Ukraine war: European countries back Kyiv as Trump says peace negotiations with Russia to start ‘immediately’

Ukraine must be put in a “position of strength”, European countries including Britain, France and Germany have said as Donald Trump prepares to open peace negotiations with Vladimir Putin.

The US president said an agreement had been reached about starting talks after he made phone calls to the Russian leader and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

European countries also including Poland, Italy, and Spain issued a joint statement saying they would work with the United States on Ukraine’s future.

“We are looking forward to discussing the way ahead together with our American allies,” they said.

“Our shared objectives should be to put Ukraine in a position of strength.

“A just and lasting peace in Ukraine is a necessary condition for a strong transatlantic security.”

It is the US president’s first big step towards diplomacy over a conflict which he promised to end within 24 hours of being inaugurated.

“We both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine,” Mr Trump posted on Truth Social following discussions with Russia’s president.

He said the pair would “work together, very closely” towards winding down the conflict and “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately”.

A Kremlin spokesperson said Mr Putin and Mr Trump had agreed to meet, with the Russian president inviting the US leader to visit Moscow.

Ukraine latest: Trump’s plan to end war

“President Putin, for his part, mentioned the need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement can be achieved through peaceful negotiations,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s president wrote on X that he had a “meaningful conversation” by phone with Mr Trump to discuss “opportunities to achieve peace” and the preparation of a document governing security and economic cooperation.

“No one wants peace more than Ukraine. Together with the US, we are charting our next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure a lasting, reliable peace,” he said.

Mr Trump added that his phone conversation with Mr Zelenskyy “went very well”, suggesting that “he [Mr Zelenskyy], like President Putin, wants to make PEACE”.

On social media, the US president said: “It is time to stop this ridiculous war, where there has been massive, and totally unnecessary, DEATH and DESTRUCTION. God bless the people of Russia and Ukraine!”

Trump’s bombshell phone call

Dominic Waghorn

International affairs editor

@DominicWaghorn

Some of the fundamental principles underlying Western security and prosperity were today abandoned or weakened by the Trump administration.

After 80 years of underwriting security in Europe, America told Europeans they can’t take that for granted anymore.

The principle that aggression cannot be rewarded has been central to the post-war world order.

Today the US told Ukrainians, that Russians will be able to keep some of the land they have taken by force.

A principle of US policy for the last three years has been the West would not negotiate unless Ukraine was involved.

Trump seemed to undermine that commitment today. Read more from Dominic here.

On Wednesday, the US defence secretary delivered a blunt statement on the new US administration’s approach to the nearly three-year-old war.

Read more from Sky News:
Europe must get serious about defence
Hegseth: Big shift in American military policy
Trump welcomes home teacher jailed in Russia

Speaking at a NATO meeting in Brussels, Pete Hegseth said a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders was unrealistic and the US did not see NATO membership for Kyiv as part of a solution to the war.

“Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering,” he said.

Separately, the US and Russia agreed to a prisoner swap. America freed a Russian cybercrime boss in return for Moscow’s release of schoolteacher Marc Fogel, a US official said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile at a White House news conference on Wednesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she was “not aware of” Mr Trump putting any preconditions on his meeting with Mr Putin.

Mr Trump said the peace negotiations will be led by secretary of state Marco Rubio, director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, national security advisor Michael Waltz, and ambassador Steve Witkoff.