Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump had a “lengthy and highly productive phone call” on Wednesday, during which they discussed ending the Ukraine War. The hour-and-a-half-long call came the same day that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a gathering of allies at NATO headquarters that “the United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.” He also said it was “unrealistic” to return Ukraine’s borders to where they were before Russia’s invasion in 2014.
The Kremlin-White House call marked the end to Washington’s three-year-long effort to isolate Russia and Putin, signaling that ceasefire discussions could be coming soon. After the call, Trump said that he planned to tell Volodymyr Zelensky to “start negotiations immediately.”
It also raised concern that Ukraine could be entering negotiations under pressure from its biggest military backer. But Hegseth said Thursday in Brussels that there “is no betrayal there” of Kyiv.
To increase his leverage, Zelensky has offered to trade Ukraine’s critical minerals in exchange for continued US support, an offer that Trump has smiled upon, but not clarified whether it would be in exchange for future or past aid. The Ukrainian leader has also made the domestically controversial decision to begin recruiting men aged 18-24 through hefty bonuses to the tune of $48,000 over a year – a sum that would take 10 years for most to earn in Ukraine. This is an attempt to make up for Ukraine’s manpower deficit and to appease Trump, who has criticized the country for keeping the conscription age at 25.