Trump and Putin discuss Ukraine war and prospects for U.S.-Russia relations
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The Facts
- Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held a phone call on Tuesday lasting about an hour.
- Trump and Putin discussed the war in Ukraine during the call.
- The leaders discussed recent visits by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv.
- The Kremlin said Trump wanted the Ukraine war to end quickly.
- The Kremlin said Trump linked ending the war to restoring U.S.-Russia relations.
- Witkoff and Kushner's meetings did not produce an immediate public breakthrough.
- Russia has said it does not rule out resuming U.S.-Russia-Ukraine talks.
- The timing and location of possible three-way talks have not been set.
Context
Who were the U.S. envoys involved in the diplomatic effort?
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow and Kyiv, meeting Putin in Moscow and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. NDTV India Today
What could happen next in the negotiations?
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a plan for renewed negotiations could potentially be developed in the coming weeks, though he said much work remained. ���.Ru // �… Коммерсант.… Українська …
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
- Where Left and Right agree
- Both treat the Kremlin's linkage of a quick war's end to restored U.S.-Russia ties as the real structure of this deal, with no three-way talks yet scheduled.
- Where Left and Right split
- Ukraine's absence from a deal being struck over its head, or the U.S. using that linkage as leverage to extract concessions from Moscow.
- Why they won’t converge
- The disagreement is a values divide: whether ending the killing quickly is itself the moral priority, or whether linking that end to restored U.S.-Russia relations is the leverage that actually secures it.
How left and right read it
Stopping the killing fast is the right priority, because the people carrying this war's costs have no seat in an hour-long call between two presidents. Yet the Kremlin frames a quick end as the price of restored U.S.-Russia relations, and while Moscow says three-way talks aren't ruled out, no time or place has been set. Who is negotiating for Ukraine?
American power works best when the price is stated plainly, and tying an end to this war to the restoration of relations does exactly that — it puts what Moscow wants on the table only against what we want more. The envoy trips to Moscow and Kyiv produced no public breakthrough, yet Russia has not ruled out three-way talks. Keep the offer conditional. Set the time and place.
“Ushakov also claimed that Trump teased the possibility of reopening relations with Russia if Moscow agreed to a peace deal with Ukraine.” — New York Post
The receipts — all 100 sources
Wire services (3)
Independent coverage (50)
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