Trump says he'll call Putin after Zelenskyy meeting and speaks of peace

"I'm also calling President Putin after the meeting, and we'll continue negotiations," Trump said during a joint press statement with Zelenskyy immediately before their meeting.

Trump also said he believes that "they (Zelenskyy and Putin - ed.) both want to see it (war - ed.) end." He added that a security guarantees agreement for Ukraine "will be strong."

“Nobody knows what the security agreement will say. But there will be a security agreement, and it will be strong. And European nations are very much involved,” Trump said.

Earlier, on December 28, Trump said he had held a "productive call" with the Russian leader. As has often been the case, Putin "suddenly" decided to call Trump shortly before Trump met with Zelenskyy, despite earlier statements from the Kremlin that no talks with Trump were planned for the rest of the year.

Following the call, Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was preparing to contact the United States to understand how much US President Donald Trump's peace plan had changed after coordination with Ukraine. Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov also claimed that the United States and Russia had allegedly agreed to create two so-called "working groups."

Meanwhile, President Zelenskyy’s office said the "sudden" phone call between Putin and Trump did not cause concern for the Ukrainian leader, as such a move by the Kremlin was entirely predictable.