US President Trump confirms call with Putin and 'very good' talk with EU leaders

During a press exchange, Trump was asked whether he had recently spoken directly with Putin. The US leader’s answer was brief:

The White House chief said that he had.

Several hours earlier, a number of media outlets reported that Trump was planning to call both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

At the same time, Trump told reporters that an hour before his remarks, he had a very good conversation with European leaders.

US efforts to negotiate peace

As is known, Trump has spoken several times this year with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in an effort to bring peace closer in Ukraine, but no results were achieved until Washington proposed a peace plan last month.

The plan consisted of 28 points and envisaged significant concessions to Moscow, including the withdrawal of the Ukrainian army from Donbas, the handover of the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions to Russia, a reduction in the size of Ukraine’s armed forces, a veto on Ukraine’s accession to NATO, and other provisions.

The plan was reportedly drafted by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff together with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev. However, US officials said it had been coordinated with Ukraine.

Europe and Kyiv were outraged by this peace plan. Subsequently, following numerous meetings between the Ukrainian delegation and European and American officials, the plan was reduced to 20 points (US representatives also traveled to Moscow). Currently, the peace plan is divided into three parts: a framework agreement, security guarantees, and a third section covering a postwar recovery plan for Ukraine.

However, the issue of territorial concessions to Russia remains problematic. At the latest talks on the plan, held in Berlin, agreement was reached on 90% of the issues, according to an unnamed US official quoted by the media.