U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken by phone with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in an effort to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, the president said in an exclusive interview Friday with The New York Post aboard Air Force One.
President Trump believes Russian President Putin "has empathy" for those killed on the battlefield.
"He wants people to stop dying," The New York Post newspaper quoted President Trump as saying.
President Trump also insists that the three-year war "would never have happened" if he were president in 2022. "I've always had a good relationship with Putin," he said.
Asked how many times he had spoken to the Russian president, Mr Trump replied: "I'd rather not say."
President Trump assured that he has a concrete plan to end the war.
"I hope this happens soon. People are dying every day. This war is so bad and I want to end this damn thing."
Addressing National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who joined the president in his office aboard Air Force One on Friday evening, President Trump said: "Let's get these meetings started. They want to meet. People are dying every day. Young, beautiful soldiers are dying. Young men like my boys. On both sides. All over the battlefield."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not confirm or deny the New York Post's article about the conversation between the two presidents.
"As the administration in Washington expands its work, many communications arise, and these communications are carried out through various channels," Mr. Peskov told the Russian newspaper Izvestia.
As previously reported by Voice of America, President Trump said during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House on Friday, February 7, that he is likely to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week.
Asked by reporters whether US Vice President JD Vance, who will travel to Germany to attend the Munich Security Conference, plans to meet with Mr. Zelensky next week, President Trump replied: "I will probably meet with President Zelensky next week and I will probably talk to President Putin."
"He (Zelensky) can meet with me next week. Whenever he wants. I'm here," the US president added.
When asked if this meeting would take place in Washington, President Trump replied: "Maybe in Washington. I'm not going there" [to Munich].
Earlier on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with the Reuters news agency that he wanted to meet with President Trump before meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, "otherwise it will look like a dialogue about Ukraine, without Ukraine."
He said he was ready to negotiate with President Trump for a deal on rare earth elements and other minerals in exchange for financial support:
"If we are talking about a deal, then let's make a deal, we are only for this," Ukrainian President Zelensky told Reuters news agency.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will attend a meeting of NATO defense ministers and a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) to be held in Brussels on Wednesday, the Pentagon announced Friday evening.
During his first visit to Europe as US Secretary of Defense, which begins on Monday, Mr. Hegseth is scheduled to discuss with NATO ministers the need to increase the Alliance's defense spending, strengthen European leadership and expand defense industry capabilities on both sides of the Atlantic.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on January 31 that Russia's war in Ukraine has reached a stalemate, with suffering for both Ukrainians and Russians, and that President Donald Trump's job is to end the conflict and achieve a lasting peace. This requires starting negotiations where both sides will have to "sacrifice something."
Secretary Rubio expressed his thoughts on ending the war in Ukraine during an interview with journalist Megan Kelly./ VOA (A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
