CNN
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President Donald Trump said negotiations to end the Ukraine war will start immediately after holding a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday morning.
The call, which is the first known conversation between the presidents since Trump assumed office last month, came a day after Russia released an American imprisoned in the country.
Trump administration officials said they hoped the exchange could portend renewed efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, which is about to enter its fourth year.
In a readout of the conversation posted on Truth Social, Trump said, “We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects.”
The Kremlin said Trump and Putin spoke for nearly 90 minutes.
Trump had been signaling for weeks his desire to speak with Putin as he works to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
“We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations. We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now,” Trump wrote.
His predecessor, President Joe Biden, hadn’t spoken to his Russian counterpart in nearly three years. The last US president to visit Russia was Barack Obama in 2013, when he attended a G20 summit.
Steve Witkoff, who will be among Trump’s top negotiators on the conflict, pointed earlier Wednesday to the release of wrongfully detained American Marc Fogel as “an indication of what the possibilities are” for the future of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“I think that’s maybe a sign about how that working relationship between President Trump and President Putin will be in the future, and what that may portend for the world at large, for conflict and so forth. I think they had a great friendship, and I think now it’s going to continue, and it’s a really good thing for the world,” he said.
CNN’s Anna Chernova and Christian Edwards contributed to this report.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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