Trump and Putin discuss war in 90-minute secret call and here’s what we know

In one of the most significant days yet of the second Donald Trump presidency, the US President spoke at length to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on the phone.

The two leaders are ostensibly on opposing sides of the war in Ukraine, but Trump has significantly softened the US' stance on Russia and has sought to extract concessions out of the invaded Ukrainians. Trump and Putin spent around 90 minutes on the call on Tuesday and discussed “the need for peace and a ceasefire in the Ukraine war,” according to a White House statement.

We’re very unlikely to get a full transcript, but here’s three key takeaways from the behind-closed-doors conversation between Trump and Putin...

Trump claims “immediate ceasefire” agreement

The first major detail to emerge from the talks were a post from Trump on his Truth Social platform in which he announced that he had brokered a temporary peace agreement.

Trump wrote: “We agreed to an immediate ceasefire on all energy and infrastructure, with an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a complete ceasefire and, ultimately, an end to this very horrible war between Russia and Ukraine.”

However it was then reported that only Ukraine has agreed to the halt, while Russia had not yet done so. Just hours after the call explosions rocked the capital of Kyiv and the White House finds itself back in negotiations with a Russian aggressor.

US-Russia hockey game floated

One of the more bizarre details to emerge was the news that Putin had suggested a series of hockey games between NHL and KHL team, an idea that Trump was reportedly on board with. A Kremlin statement claims that the two leaders discussed “hockey matches in the USA and Russia between Russian and American players playing in the NHL and KHL”.

The NHL has cut ties with the Russian league and its teams since the invasion in February 2022 but Trump seems willing to move the US closer to Russia once again.

The NHL issued a statement saying that it was aware of the proposal but wasn’t willing to make a comment at this stage. It’s difficult to see how a game between teams from the two nations could be played amid such tense diplomatic conditions but Trump appears willing to give ground to Russia.

Zelenskyy reiterates position

Trump and Putin spent 90 minutes discussing plans for the conflict on Tuesday, excluding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from the talks. Zelenskyy has been forced to backtrack after a disastrous Oval Office appearance two weeks ago but he remained unconvinced by promises that Putin will agree to a lasting peace.

“We are skeptical when it comes to trusting the Russians,” Zelenskyy said on Tuesday. “There is no trust to Putin. That’s why I am saying we need to understand how it will work technically so that it will not depend on their desire only. That is it.”

Delegates from the United States and Ukraine met in Saudi Arabia last week in a bid to bring a halt to the fighting. The two nations proposed a 30-day ceasefire but, while Putin claims to accept the idea in principle, he has not yet committed to a peace.

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