By MATTHEW LEE, ERIC TUCKER and ZEKE MILLER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 held a lengthy phone call during which they committed to "work together, very closely" to bring the conflict to an end and would meet in person, including perhaps in each other's countries.
It was unclear how closely Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would be involved. Trump held a phone call with him Wednesday, Ukrainian presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn said, characterizing it as a "good conversation."
Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump's special Russia-Ukraine envoy, retired Gen. Keith Kellogg, will all be in Germany later this week for the annual Munich Security Conference, which Zelenskyy will also attend.
However, in a blow to Ukraine's aspirations, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier Wednesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels that NATO membership was not realistic for Ukraine and said that any security guarantees for the country would have to be borne by European countries.
The Biden administration had joined other NATO members since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 in vowing that membership in the alliance was "inevitable."
And Trump's announcement appeared to dismantle the Biden-era mantra that Kyiv would be a full participant in any decisions made. "Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine," Biden and his top national security aides said repeatedly.
Wednesday's Trump-Putin call and resulting policy sea change, followed a prisoner swap that resulted in Russia releasing American schoolteacher Marc Fogel, of Pennsylvania, after more than three years of detention in return for convicted Russian criminal Alexander Vinnik.
"We each talked about the strengths of our respective Nations, and the great benefit that we will someday have in working together," Trump said in a social media post disclosing details about the call. "But first, as we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine.
Trump said they also "agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately" and would be alerting Zelenskyy to their conversation. He appointed Rubio, CIA director John Ratcliffe, national security advisor Michael Waltz, and his special Mideast envoy Steven Witkoff to lead those talks.
White House officials later declined to clarify whether Ukraine would be a party to the U.S. negotiations with Russia although Trump and Zelenskyy did speak by phone, according to the White House and Kyiv.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the conversation between Trump and Putin covered a good deal of ground, including the Middle East and Iran in addition to Ukraine, which was the main focus.
Peskov said that Trump called for a quick cessation of hostilities and a peaceful settlement and that "President Putin, in his turn, emphasized the need to remove the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be achieved through peace talks."
"The Russian president of supported one of the main theses of the U.S. president that the time has come for our two countries to work together," Peskov told reporters. "The Russian president invited the U.S. president to visit Moscow and expressed readiness to host U.S. officials in Russia for issues of mutual interest, naturally including Ukraine, the Ukrainian settlement."
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy sought to put a brave face on what many in Ukraine will see as a major disappointment. In a social media post, he said he had had "a meaningful conversation with" Trump that included discussion of "opportunities to achieve peace" and Kyiv's "readiness to work together at the team level, and Ukraine's technological capabilities—including drones and other advanced industries."
"I am grateful to President Trump," he said.
The White House described the prisoner swap as evidence of a diplomatic thaw that could advance negotiations to end the fighting in Ukraine.
Fogel, an American history teacher who was deemed wrongfully detained by Russia, was arrested in August 2021 for possession of marijuana and was serving a 14-year prison sentence. He had been left out of previous prisoner swaps with Russia that were negotiated by the Biden administration.
Vinnik — the other person involved, according to two U.S. officials — was arrested in 2017 in Greece at the request of the U.S. on cryptocurrency fraud charges and was later extradited to the United States, where he pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering.
He is currently in custody in California awaiting transport to return to Russia, the officials said. The Kremlin confirmed that a Russian citizen was freed in the United States in exchange for Fogel but refused to identify him until he arrives in Russia.
Trump had welcomed Fogel at the White House on Tuesday evening after his return to U.S. soil on Witkoff's personal plane. On Wednesday, Trump declined to say if he spoke with Putin about Fogel and didn't say what the United States had provided in exchange for Fogel's release.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump suggested that Fogel's release could help anchor a peace deal on Ukraine, saying: "We were treated very nicely by Russia, actually. I hope that's the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war."
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BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that NATO membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and in sweeping remarks suggested Kyiv should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia and instead prepare for a negotiated peace settlement to be backed up by international troops.
Hegseth's strident comments came during the first trip to NATO by a member of the new Trump administration. Allies have been waiting to hear how much continued military and financial support Washington intends to provide to the Ukrainian government.
What they heard was that President Donald Trump is intent on getting Europe to assume most of the financial and military responsibilities for the defense of Ukraine, including a possible peacekeeping force that would not include U.S. troops. Hegseth said the force should not have Article Five protections, which could require the U.S. or the 31 other nations of the NATO alliance to come to the aid of those forces if they end up in contact with Russian forces.
Hegseth's stark message, and his insistence that Russia should keep some territory that Ukraine wants back, is likely to complicate talks later this week between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. Vice President JD Vance and other senior American officials at a major security security conference in Munich.
"The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement," Hegseth said, as Kyiv's backers gathered at NATO headquarters for a meeting to drum up more arms and ammunition for the war, which will soon enter its fourth year.
All 32 allies must agree for a country to join NATO, meaning that every member has a veto.
"Instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops," Hegseth said. "To be clear, as part of any security guarantee, there will not be U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine."
Hegseth insisted that NATO should play no role in any future military mission to police the peace in Ukraine and that any peacekeeping troops should not be covered by the part of NATO's founding treaty that obliges all allies to come to the aid of any member under attack.
Article Five has been activated only once, when European allies and Canada used the collective security guarantee to help the United States in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida attacks on New York and Washington.
Hegseth also said Europe "must provide the overwhelming share of future lethal and nonlethal aid to Ukraine." Ukraine currently relies equally on Europe and the U.S. for about 30% each of its defense needs. The rest is produced by Ukraine itself.
Addressing the allies of Ukraine known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, he also insisted that Ukraine's Western backers must abandon the "illusionary goal" of returning the country to its pre-2014 borders, before Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and seized parts of eastern Ukraine.
"Members of this contact group must meet the moment," Hegseth said to the approximately 50 member countries that have provided support to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
"We hear you," U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said in response to Hegseth's opening remarks. Both Hegseth and Healey spoke in front of journalists at the top of a closed-door session in Brussels to discuss future aid to Ukraine.
Over nearly three years, those 50 countries have collectively provided Ukraine with more than $126 billion in weapons and military assistance, including more than $66.5 billion from the U.S., which has served as the chair of the group since its creation.
But the meeting this week was convened by the United Kingdom, and no decision has been made on who might chair the next meeting, if one is called.
Hegseth wasn't expected to make any announcement on new weapons for Ukraine.
His trip comes less than two weeks before the third anniversary of Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. Most U.S. allies fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin won't stop at Ukraine's borders if he wins, and that Europe's biggest land war in decades poses an existential threat to their security.
Trump has promised to end the war quickly. He's complained that it's costing American taxpayers too much money and suggested that Ukraine should pay for U.S. support with access to its rare earth minerals, energy and other resources.
Hegseth in his remarks said that NATO member nations also need to significantly increase defense spending to 5% of their budgets — a high mark that the U.S. does not presently meet either.
"The United States will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encourages dependence. Rather, our relationship will prioritize empowering Europe to own responsibility for its own security," Hegseth said.
European allies have hiked their military budgets since Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine, and 23 of them are estimated to have reached or exceeded last year's target of spending 2% of gross domestic product, but a third still fall short.
Some U.S. allies worry that a hasty deal might be clinched on terms that aren't favorable to Ukraine.
Before Hegseth spoke, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told The Associated Press that Putin will only negotiate a peace deal with Ukraine if its backers continue to provide enough weapons and ammunition.
"We have to make sure that he has no other option, and that means to force him to the table," Rutte said. "He needs to understand that we will not give up on Ukraine. We have to make sure that we have maximum economic impact on Russia."
Hegseth's remarks come a day after American history teacher Marc Vogel returned safely to the U.S. after three years in a Russian prison. The White House suggested that his release could help to advance negotiations on ending the war.
Trump said another American, someone "very special," would be released Wednesday, though he declined to name the person or say from what country. The president did not say what the United States exchanged for Fogel's release.
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Copp reported from Washington. Associated Press Writer Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.