President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he directed his national security team to "start negotiations immediately" to end the war in Ukraine following a call with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
"I have asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Ambassador and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, to lead the negotiations which, I feel strongly, will be successful," Trump posted on Truth Social. "Millions of people have died in a War that would not have happened if I were President, but it did happen, so it must end. No more lives should be lost!"
The Kremlin on Tuesday released American teacher Marc Fogel, who had been serving a 14-year sentence for possessing medical marijuana. Fogel's release "serves as a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine," Waltz said.
Another American citizen was released Wednesday from a prison in Belarus, a close ally of Russia, according to State Department officials.
Trump on the campaign trail pledged to end the war swiftly, criticizing then-president Joe Biden for failing to negotiate a resolution to a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. Trump's call with Putin, the first-known conversation between the presidents since Trump's return to the White House, comes just ahead of the war's third anniversary.
Trump said he will call Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday "to inform him of the conversation." The president added that his discussion with Putin covered "the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects." Zelensky met the same day with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.