Trump, Putin discuss ending Ukraine war, agree to meet in future

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump on Wednesday discussed ending the war in Ukraine, agreed to meet in the future and Putin invited Trump to Moscow, the Kremlin said.

Putin last spoke to a sitting US president in February 2022 when he had a call with Joe Biden shortly before ordering thousands of troops into Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin and Trump discussed the Middle East, bilateral relations, Ukraine and a prisoner exchange between Washington and Moscow, state news agency TASS reported.

"The Russian president invited the US president to visit Moscow and expressed his readiness to receive American officials in Russia in those areas of mutual interest, including, of course, the topic of the Ukrainian settlement," Peskov said.

"Putin and Trump also agreed to continue personal contacts, including arranging a face-to-face meeting."

Trump, author of the 1987 book "Trump: the Art of the Deal", has repeatedly said he wants to end the war and that he will meet Putin to discuss it, though the date or venue for a summit is still not publicly known.