Disquiet in Brussels and Kyiv as Trump says he plans summit with Putin for peace talks

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he planned to hold a summit with Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine after having what he called a “lengthy and highly productive” phone call with the Russian leader, as well as a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said that he and Putin had agreed to “work together, very closely” to bring the war in Ukraine to an end but appeared to suggest that Zelensky would not be included in the first round of any negotiations.

After an initial summit in Saudi Arabia, Trump said that he and Putin would each host talks in the United States and Russia respectively.

A ceasefire in Ukraine was likely in the “not too distant future”, Trump said, claiming that Putin favoured a definitive end to the war rather than a temporary end to hostilities. “He doesn’t want to end it then go back to fighting six months later”, Trump said.

When pressed on whether he saw Ukraine as an equal member of the peace process, Trump did not give a direct answer, saying only that “they have to make peace” in remarks that are likely to further fuel fears in Kyiv that a peace deal for Ukraine could be brokered without its involvement.

Zelensky said in an interview last week that he would be willing to sit down with Putin in person to negotiate an end to the war if that was “the only way to achieve peace for Ukrainians”, despite the Kremlin repeatedly dismissing Zelensky as an “illegitimate” president.

Trump also indicated that while Ukraine may be able to recover some territories currently under Russian occupation, a return to its pre-2014 borders was “unlikely”, echoing the assessment made by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in Brussels earlier on Wednesday when he dismissed the idea of restoring Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders as an “illusory goal” and said that Washington did not view Ukraine joining NATO as a “realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement”.

Trump’s comments sparked a backlash in Europe, with seven European countries — including the UK, France and Germany — issuing a joint statement with the European Commission insisting that “Ukraine and Europe must be part of any negotiations” to end the war and that the West should strive to “put Ukraine in a position of strength”.