HELSINKI, FINLAND - JULY 16: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a joint press conference after their summit on July 16, 2018 in Helsinki, Finland. The two leaders met one-on-one and discussed a range of issues including the 2016 U.S Election collusion. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump said that he had a “lengthy and productive” conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week about negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Trump has expressed to his advisers that he is determined to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
“We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects,” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social.
“We agreed to work together very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations. We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelensky of Ukraine to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now,” the post read. The two are said to have talked for 90 minutes, which was a positive sign for Moscow.
In a conference in Brussels, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that it is unrealistic for Kyiv to join NATO and that the U.S. will no longer prioritize European and Ukrainian security, meaning no U.S. troops for Ukraine in any future security arrangement. Hegseth said the Trump administration is focused on securing U.S. borders and preventing war with China.
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Early last week, Trump spoke of striking a deal with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to give the United States access to the country’s valuable rare earth minerals in exchange for continued American assistance.
European leaders are set to meet in an emergency working meeting after the Trump administration made clear that Europe would be excluded from peace talks with Russia on ending the war.
Zelensky told NBC News that he would “never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine,” and there is not “any leader in the world who can really make a deal with Putin without us about us.” He said that he was “not happy” that Trump’s first call was with Putin and warned that it would be even “more dangerous” if Trump met with the Russian president before him.
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