Former US president Donald Trump directly told Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky that he will bring the conflict between Moscow and Kiev to an end - should he return to the White House - during a phone call between the two on Friday.
The Republican candidate for November's presidential election wrote in a post on Truth Social that he “had a very good phone call” with Zelensky, who congratulated him on a “very successful” Republican National Convention and condemned last weekend's “heinous assassination attempt.”
Trump went on to say that he appreciates Zelensky “for reaching out because I, as your next President of the United States, will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives and devastated countless innocent families.”
Both sides will be able to come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path forward to prosperity
Zelensky said he had “agreed with President Trump to discuss at a personal meeting what steps can make peace fair and truly lasting.”
“I noted the vital bipartisan and bicameral American support for protecting our nation’s freedom and independence. Ukraine will always be grateful to the United States for its help in strengthening our ability to resist Russian terror,” he wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday night.
Trump said nothing about agreeing to a meeting with Zelensky, and neither he nor Kiev released any further details of the conversation. In 2019, Trump was impeached over a phone call with Zelensky, in which Democrats claimed he tried to get dirt on his rival, Joe Biden, in exchange for military aid.
Speaking to the BBC during a trip to the UK this week, Zelensky reiterated that his government seeks total victory in the conflict with Russia. “We have to finish with him,” he said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
If Trump is reelected president in November, Zelensky expects him to lean on Kiev to end the conflict “in 24 hours,” as he has promised on the campaign trail. Zelensky described a worst-case scenario in which US sanctions are lifted from Russia under Trump and Putin celebrates victory: “We will never go on this, never. And there is no guy in the world who can push us to do it,” he said.
Zelensky’s own five-year presidential term, which he won in a landslide in 2019, expired in late May. He has refused to hold a new election, citing martial law, and reiterated to the BBC his intention to retain power at least until the hostilities end.
Moscow has argued that, under the Ukrainian constitution, the parliament remains legitimate, and presidential authority should have passed to its speaker when Zelensky’s term ended. Putin has also stated that he would order a ceasefire and start negotiations with Ukraine as soon as it pledges not to seek membership in NATO and withdraws its troops from all Russian territories, including the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, and the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye.