Trump says he has spoken to Putin and they have agreed to "immediately" begin negotiations on Ukraine

Washington / BrusselsUS President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he had agreed in a telephone meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that negotiations for a peace agreement with Ukraine would begin "immediately." The US president himself reported this on his own network, Truth Social. "We had a very long and highly productive call," Trump said, "and we will have our respective teams start negotiating immediately." "We both agreed that we want to stop the millions of deaths that are occurring in the war between Russia and Ukraine. President Putin even used my campaign slogan in favor of "COMMON SENSE." We both believe very strongly. We have agreed to work together, very closely, including visits to each other's nations."

On the other hand, the White House has confirmed that Trump spoke immediately afterwards with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "A number of issues related to the war were discussed, but the main focus was on the meeting being organised for Friday in Munich, where Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the delegation," said press secretary Karoline Leavitt. "The administration is fully committed to a peace agreement to end the war between Russia and Ukraine once and for all," she added.

Reactions in Europe to Trump's calls were not long in coming. Both France and Germany, for example, have claimed the right of Kiev and the EU to have a say in resolving the conflict, and are opposed to the possibility of the White House and the Kremlin closing the agreement without consulting the other parties involved. "We can only achieve peace together. And that means with Ukraine and the Europeans," said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at a ministerial meeting in Paris. In the same vein, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stressed that peace in Ukraine cannot be achieved without taking into account the voice of Europe. "An unjust war cannot end an unjust peace," added his Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares.

The call between Trump and Putin comes on the same day that the US administration increases pressure on Volodymyr Zelensky. After the US president said on Tuesday that Ukraine "one day it could be Russian" if it does not reach an agreement with the Kremlin, On Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a NATO ministerial meeting that in order to achieve peace, "we must begin to recognize that it is an unrealistic goal to return Ukraine to its pre-2014 borders," when Russian troops invaded Crimea and part of the peace. "Pursuing this illusory goal will only prolong the war and cause even more suffering," the US leader insisted at the summit of the Atlantic Alliance that is being held this Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels.

In the opinion of the United States, however, it would not be enough for Ukraine to cede territory to Russia. Hegseth also said that as a result of a peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev, Ukraine's accession to NATO cannot be agreed, which is one of Zelensky's major demands. The Atlantic Alliance, which is controlled by the US, is controlled by the US. de facto by the Pentagon, has agreed on more than one occasion that Ukraine's path to membership the world's largest military entity is "irreversible". Now, however, the Trump administration has suddenly put the brakes on him and opened the door for the first time to accepting one of the main demands of Vladimir Putin's regime: that Ukraine not join NATO under any circumstances. "The United States does not believe that Ukraine's entry [into the Atlantic Alliance] is a realistic outcome of an agreement," the US Secretary General of Defense stressed.

Thus, the head of the Pentagon has been forceful and unambiguous. In just ten minutes of speech, he made a complete amendment to the administration of Democrat Joe Biden and presented more clearly than ever the main lines of Trump's position on Ukraine. In addition, the speech comes at a key moment in what seems to be the preamble to potential negotiations on a war that has already lasted almost three years. This weekend The Munich Security Conference is held and Zelensky is expected to meet with US Vice President JD Vance and Keith Kellogg, the White House special envoy to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. According to BloombergThe US is expected to present its peace plan for Ukraine and fears are growing among European allies that Trump is willing to accept Putin's maximum conditions.

Hegseth's statements have come as a bucket of cold water in Kiev and strengthen Russia's position at a possible future negotiating table. On Wednesday, Zelensky insisted that security guarantees for a possible ceasefire or peace agreement with Putin must be included. at all costs with the involvement of the United States"Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees," the Ukrainian president stressed in an interview with the newspaper The Guardian.

In this regard, the US Secretary of Defense has also ruled out the deployment of US or NATO peacekeeping troops on Ukrainian territory to ensure compliance with a possible understanding between the two parties. "I will be clear: as a guarantee of security we will not send troops to Ukraine," said Hegseth. Despite US opposition, however, the idea is gaining more and more strength among European allies. to send troops to Ukrainian territory to ensure compliance with a ceasefire or peace agreement. However, according to diplomatic sources, some European countries are still reluctant and will only show their willingness if the United States is also involved in the operation.

On the other hand, this morning Zelensky has opened the door for the first time to exchanging territories with Putin. In exchange for the area controlled by Ukraine in the Russian region of Kursk, Kiev would ask Moscow for some of the parts that Russian troops have invaded, although he did not clarify which part he would prioritize recovering. "All our territories are important," replied the Ukrainian president in the interview with the British newspaper. However, the Kremlin has not taken long to reject it outright. "That is impossible. We will not accept any exchange of our territory," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov made clear.

The US wants allies to spend 5% of GDP on defense

Hegseth has again put pressure on NATO's European allies to increase their military spending and has said that he agrees with Trump when he says that all NATO states should spend at least 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defence. In the same vein, the organization's secretary general, Mark Rutte, has taken him to task completely throws the glove at the Republican leader and has once again advocated in a press conference to increase the minimum of this rate, which is now at 2%.

In fact, since Trump won the election, Rutte has been pushing harder to increase the minimum percentage that NATO states must spend on defence, and has been saying for days that 2% "is not enough" and that it should be raised to at least 3%. However, it should be remembered that there are still a dozen allies that do not even reach this minimum. Spain, for example, is currently at 1.28% and does not expect to reach 2% until 2029. However, the former Dutch prime minister, who has once again made a bitter defence of Trump, has urged European partners to reach 2% before the summer, when it is almost a given that 5% will be approved at the NATO summit in The Hague.