Trump signals start of talks to end Ukraine war with calls to Putin, Zelensky
Published: 13 Feb. 2025, 17:42
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- LIM JEONG-WON
- [email protected]
![From lef,t U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/02/13/16416205-d48e-4ca5-bbfb-fe0564ee9120.jpg)
From lef,t U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin [AP/YONHAP]
U.S. President Donald Trump held phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, effectively starting negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
In an interview with the British economic media outlet The Economist on Wednesday, Zelensky said the United States should not exclude Ukraine when negotiating with Russia.
Zelensky claimed that if Russia and the United States were to negotiate bilaterally, Washington could be fooled by selective information provided by Moscow and that Russian President Vladimir Putin has wanted direct talks with Washington from the very beginning.
Zelensky elaborated that he does not know the real intentions of Trump's second-term administration regarding the war in Ukraine.
Zelensky is scheduled to meet with U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, which opens on Friday, and explained that he will learn what the Trump second administration has in mind at that time.
He said Ukraine is willing to negotiate a cease-fire, but negotiations and a cease-fire alone are not enough to maintain peace and that security guarantees are essential to prevent another Russian invasion.
Zelensky warned that if Russia is left alone, it could invade European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states Lithuania and Poland, adding that the Russian military would increase by 150,000 troops this year after growing by 140,000 personnel last year.
He claimed that the Russian military has 220 brigades, but Ukraine has 110 and Europe only 80. “Without Ukraine, Europe will be occupied" by Russia., he said.
A brigade consists of 3,500 to 5,000 soldiers.
Zelensky avoided answering a question about whether he would run for re-election.
He was elected in the 2019 election and took office in May 2019, and although his five-year term ended last year, he has remained in power as wartime martial law has made it impossible to hold elections.
A few hours after The Economist reported the interview, Trump disclosed that he had spoken to Putin and Zelensky separately.
![Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, right, shakes hands with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 12. [EPA/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/02/13/93a91740-9688-44ec-8f24-8192744dfc78.jpg)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, right, shakes hands with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 12. [EPA/YONHAP]
After the calls, Trump said the United States and Russia would begin negotiations "immediately" on how to end the war in Ukraine and that they had "agreed to work very closely together."
Trump spoke to Zelensky only after a very long conversation with Putin. Given this situation, there is speculation that Trump may have planned to discuss how to deal with the war in Ukraine in a bilateral meeting between the United States and Russia, excluding Ukraine.
“Trump spoke to Putin before calling Zelensky, in a sign that the United States may not want to work with Kyiv or the EU on a common strategy to bring Russia to the negotiating table,” wrote the Financial Times. “The United States also poured cold water on Ukraine’s hopes of securing a pledge to join NATO and restoring its borders to the period before Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.”
"We are closely monitoring the current situation regarding the war in Ukraine and are actively working to help the countries involved resolve the issue through dialogue, and we are paying attention to this and cooperating with related parties," said Lee Jae-woong, spokesperson for South Korea's Foreign Ministry during a regular press briefing on Thursday.
Seoul is monitoring the situation closely as North Korea has dispatched troops to support Russia, raising security concerns on the Korean Peninsula. Seoul has also provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine, aligning itself with Western allies, and any North Korean involvement in the conflict could heighten regional tensions and impact South Korea’s foreign policy.
France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, Britain and the EU Commission issued a joint statement of foreign ministers in Paris on Thursday with Ukraine, supporting Ukraine's position.
“We look forward to discussing the way forward with our ally, the United States," the joint statement said. "Any negotiation must involve Ukraine and Europe.”
In an analysis piece titled “This is Putin and Trump’s world now,” published in the British daily newspaper The Telegraph on Wednesday, senior foreign correspondent Roland Oliphant argued that the United States "is not interested in underwriting either Ukrainian or European security” and that this has been “spelled out in language even a child could understand."
Oliphant wrote that Ukraine "has the largest, most battle-hardened and capable army in Europe,” arguing that Ukraine and European NATO members should find ways to deter Russian aggression by investing heavily in their military and defense industries.
BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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