No NATO for Kiev, Ukrainian territorial concessions, venue for talks with Putin: Key takeaways from Trump’s briefing

by RT [2-13-2025 published].

(I've included 3 full articles about the Trump-Putin 90min phone call, plus many "Additional Related Articles" at the end to facilitate understanding what just transpired. Since Russia is the clear winner on the battle field, they get to dictate the terms. It is clear that Trump & his team have been on a steep learning curve about what really led up to the Ukrainian conflict and a better understanding of Russian & Soviet history. A lot of work remains to flush out the details that Trump can sell in the US that also satisfied Russia's critical requirements. Keep in mind that Russia had voiced their concerns for many years, yet the West ignored them and kept expanding NATO closer to the Russian border. This constant NATO expansion violated an agreement from 1990 when the Soviet Union let East Germany reunite with West Germany to become Germany. When the West again ignored Russia's concerns in 2021, it became obvious that the West wasn't going to come to the negotiating table to resolve these critical issues. Therefore, Russia started the Special Military Operation (SMO) in February 2022 to get the West to "wake up". It has taken 3 years, Trump being elected President again, and Russia obviously winning on the battle field against the West for the US to come to the negotiating table. Let's hope that Trump's team can find a solution that they can sell to the US so we can stay focused on MAGA. — RAD)

The US president spoke to the press following what he said was a “great” phone call with his Russian counterpart.

US President Donald Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday following his long-awaited phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Here are the key takeaways from what Trump said regarding talks with Putin and Ukraine’s future:

Saudi Arabia as a potential venue for summit

Trump described the call with Putin as “great,” adding that he later had constructive talks with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky.

The US president signaled that he could ultimately hold in-person talks with Putin. “The first time we’ll meet in Saudi Arabia, see if we can get something done… We know the Crown Prince [Mohammed bin Salman], and I think it’d be a very good place to meet.”

Trump said the exact date for a summit has not been set, but noted that it could take place in the “not too distant future.”

According to the US president, the two leaders could also exchange visits, with Putin coming to the US and Trump visiting Russia. “In fact, we expect that he’ll come here, and I’ll go there,” Trump said.

He signaled that Zelensky would “probably” not be present at the potential summit in Saudi Arabia. Trump also noted that he “[hasn’t] committed to go to Ukraine.”

No NATO membership for Kiev

The US president said he does not think it is “practical” for Ukraine to join the US-led military bloc, echoing an earlier statement by his secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth. Trump recalled that Ukraine’s NATO membership has long been a red line for Russia.

“I think long before President Putin, they said there’s no way they’d allow that. This has been going on for many, many years. They’ve been saying that for a long time, that Ukraine cannot go into NATO. And I’m okay with that.”

Pre-2014 borders 'unlikely'

Ukraine has little to no chance of regaining the territory it has lost to Russia over the past decade, Trump said. “It certainly would seem to be unlikely. They took a lot of land, and they fought for that land, and they lost a lot of soldiers.”

The US president, however, suggested that Kiev could get some of the territory currently controlled by Russia, claiming “some of it will come back.”

In 2014, Crimea overwhelmingly voted to join Russia following the Western-backed coup in Kiev. Ukraine still claims the peninsula as its own territory. In autumn of 2022, months after the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions followed suit from Crimea and voted to become part of Russia.

Moscow also controls parts of Ukraine’s Kharkov Region, while Ukraine has a foothold in Russia’s border Kursk Region.

Elections for Zelensky

Trump has pushed back against the notion that he is “freezing out” Zelensky from the peace process, but hinted that the Ukrainian leader – whose presidential term expired in May 2024 and whom Russia considers “illegitimate” – must hold an election at some point.

He also noted that Zelensky wants “guarantees of security,” but would not delve into the subject, suggesting that “we’ll see what that means.”

“One thing he was very strong about — he wants, if it [war] ends, he wants it to end.”

‘We want to end that war’

According to Trump, Russia, Ukraine and the US are now “on the way to getting peace.” “I think President Putin wants peace and President Zelensky wants peace, and I want peace. I just want to see people stop getting killed,” he said.

Trump expects guarantees that Kiev will repay US aid with minerals [2-12-2025]

Pentagon rules out Ukraine joining NATO [2-12-2025]

Kremlin rules out territory trade with Kiev [2-12-2025]

Putin-Trump summit on the way – Kremlin

by RT [2-13-2025 published].

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has welcomed the US administration’s desire to reach peace in Ukraine.

It is hard to overestimate the significance of the recent phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. He also noted that the presidents have instructed their teams to lay the groundwork for the summit.

The call on Wednesday marked the first known conversation between the US and Russian leaders since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. Trump has since signaled that he is “okay” with keeping Ukraine out of NATO and suggested that it is “unlikely” that Kiev could regain all of the territory it has lost to Russia over the past decade. Trump also noted that the presidents had exchanged invitations to visit each other’s countries.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Peskov described the phone call as “a very important conversation.” “Against the backdrop of what has been happening for several years, there have been no contacts at the highest level between Moscow and Washington,” he said, noting that this landscape did not contribute to solving the Ukraine crisis.

Unlike the administration of ex-US President Joe Biden, which believed that “everything must be done to ensure that the war continues,” the Trump team apparently “holds the view that everything must be done to stop the war and for peace to prevail,” Peskov said.

“We are much more impressed by the position of the current administration, and we are open to dialogue,” the spokesman stressed.

Peskov added that the leaders would remain in touch regarding a summit. “They will focus on a separate meeting; they also agreed that instructions would be immediately given to the relevant assistants so that they would begin the relevant work.”

At the same time, Peskov declined to reveal which side had initiated the engagement, while clarifying that there has been no agreement on whether Trump will come to Moscow to attend the Victory parade to celebrate the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany on May 9.

“Exchanging mutual invitations is one thing, but focusing on a separate bilateral meeting is a different process,” the spokesman noted.

Regarding a potential territory swap with Ukraine, Peskov cautioned against “getting ahead of ourselves.” “There is political will… to conduct a dialogue to reach a settlement… We need to wait for... at least the first results of the joint work.”

At the same time, Peskov would not confirm or deny Trump’s remarks that Saudi Arabia would host a summit between the two leaders. He also did not provide any timeline for a potential Trump-Putin meeting, or when Russian and American work groups could get down to negotiations.

“There is definitely a need for such a [Trump-Putin] meeting to be held promptly. The heads of state have a lot to talk about... It is also impossible to speculate on any deadlines at this point, because the work will only begin these days.”

Russia has won a war against the West: What the Putin-Trump call really means [2-13-2025]

Kremlin reveals Putin-Trump call details

by RT [2-13-2025 published].

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the presidents spoke for nearly 1.5 hours and have agreed to meet soon on neutral territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, spoke for nearly 90 minutes by phone on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed, adding that the two heads of state had agreed to first meet in a third country, with official state visits likely to follow.

The call marks the first known direct interaction between the US and Russian heads of state since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022.

In an interview with Russia 1 television on Thursday, Peskov described the conversation as constructive, adding that the two leaders concurred that the administration of Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden had done “enormous damage” to US-Russian relations. Putin and Trump agreed that “even the most complex problems should be resolved through peace negotiations,” according to Peskov.

Aside from extending invitations to each other to visit their respective nations, the two heads of state “agreed to quite swiftly organize and hold a working meeting somewhere in a third country,” the official stated.

Hours after the phone call on Wednesday, Trump told journalists at the White House that the talks would take place in Saudi Arabia.

Peskov, in turn, pointed out that “no decision has been made as to where it will take place, but Saudi Arabia indeed cropped up.” The Russian official added that “both Russia and the US said that [Saudi Arabia] is a place that really suits everyone,” given both nations enjoy good relations with the monarchy.

Peskov noted that the fact that both presidents had expressed a willingness to engage in dialogue was a “very important achievement” that has “set in motion an apparatus of aides, ministries and so on, that will now gradually begin dialogue and prepare the next contacts.”

The Kremlin spokesman declined to comment on which side had initiated the call, merely stating that “President Trump, already during his campaign and after the elections before the inauguration, said that he was going to call President Putin.”

In a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, Trump wrote that he and the Russian president had among other things talked about the “great benefit that we will someday have in working together,” as well as their shared desire to put an end to the Ukraine conflict.