Trump-Zelenskyy talk details: US President wants to end Ukraine war in month
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Photo: facebook.com/zelenskyy.official)
US President Donald Trump said during a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he wants to achieve an end to the war in Ukraine within a month, according to Axios.
The outlet notes that the 30-minute conversation was the first communication between Trump and Zelenskyy since their meeting in Davos at the end of January. Three sources say the talks were very friendly and positive.
According to a Ukrainian official and another source, Zelenskyy thanked Trump for all the assistance provided and said that only Trump can make Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin end the war.
The source said that Zelenskyy then expressed hope that the war would end this year, and that Trump responded by saying the war had been going on for too long and that he would like it to end within a month.
One of the issues discussed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump was a possible trilateral summit of leaders.
The conversation took place the day after the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and a day before a meeting in Geneva between Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Zelenskyy’s negotiating team. Kushner and Witkoff also participated in the phone call.
According to a source familiar with the situation, Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev may also be in Geneva on Thursday for separate talks with the American envoys.
Peace negotiations
Since the beginning of 2026, there have already been three rounds of peace negotiations between Ukraine, the US, and Russia.
Based on statements, the parties have made progress on the military aspect of the talks. This concerns the principles of how a monitoring mission would operate in the event of a ceasefire.
However, according to Axios, the political part of the negotiations has stalled due to the positions expressed by the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky. It is not specified what exactly he said, but as is known, Russia continues to demand that Ukraine give it control over Donbas.
By the way, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently said that the US holds a similar position and is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from Donbas in order to quickly end the war.
Today, February 26, a meeting between Steve Witkoff and Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, is scheduled in Geneva. This meeting will take place without Russian participation. After this meeting, around March, another round of trilateral negotiations with the Russian side may take place.
