President Donald Trump arrives to greet Marc Fogel at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump upended three years of U.S. policy toward Ukraine on Wednesday, saying that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war following a dramatic prisoner swap.
Trump said in a social media post that he and Putin had a lengthy phone call during which they committed to “work together, very closely” to bring the conflict to an end. Trump then called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said they discussed “opportunities to achieve peace.”
While speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that NATO membership was not realistic for Ukraine.
