Trump says he spoke with Putin: Negotiations to end war in Ukraine will begin "immediately"

US President Donald Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday morning.

The call, which is the first known conversation between the presidents since Trump took office last month, came a day after Russia released an American imprisoned in the country.

Trump administration officials said they hoped the conversation could present new efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, which is entering its fourth year.

And regarding this, Trump wrote: "We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the dollar and various other topics."

Trump had signaled for weeks his desire to speak with Putin as he works to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

"We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other's nations. We have also agreed that our respective teams will begin negotiations immediately and will begin by calling President Zelensky, of Ukraine, to brief him on the conversation, which I will do now," Trump wrote.

His predecessor, President Joe Biden, had not spoken to his Russian counterpart for nearly three years.

Otherwise, the announcement of the conversation between them came on the day when US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke after his first meeting with NATO members.

The American official has stated that everything must be done to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine.

"The bloodshed must stop," he declared, adding that US President Donald Trump wants to end the war through diplomacy.

In comments that are sure to cause shockwaves in Ukraine and Europe, Hegseth says it is unrealistic for Kiev to return to its pre-2014 borders.

"The United States does not believe that Ukraine's membership in NATO is a realistic outcome of a negotiated agreement," he adds.

To clarify, he said, as part of any security guarantee, "we will not send American troops to Ukraine." /Telegraph/