Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump held a ‘very good’ phone call on Wednesday, during which the pair discussed the preliminary agreement reached with Russian President Vladimir Putin one day prior.
‘Just completed a very good telephone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine,’ Trump announced on his social media platform Truth Social just moments after the hourlong call wrapped. ‘Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs.
‘We are very much on track,’ Trump added.
Zelenskyy said the call was ‘positive, very substantive, and frank’ in a lengthy statement posted to social media Wednesday afternoon.
‘I thanked him for a good and productive start to the work of the Ukrainian and American teams in Jeddah on March 11—this meeting of the teams significantly helped in moving toward ending the war,’ the Ukranian president said. ‘We agreed that Ukraine and the United States should continue working together to achieve a real end to the war and lasting peace. We believe that together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year.’
Putin on Tuesday agreed to stop hitting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for 30 days, though the ceasefire did not extend to the frontlines or civilian populations as the Trump administration had originally hoped.
Despite skepticism from Ukraine and European leaders, special envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday said he believes a full ceasefire can be achieved in a couple of weeks.
He also said an official meeting between Trump and Putin is ‘likely to happen,’ as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security advisor Mike Waltz plan to return to Saudi Arabia on Sunday to discuss the details of the Tuesday agreement.
It is unclear at this time if a Ukrainian delegation will also be returning to Saudi Arabia to begin discussions with Russian counterparts.
Putin also agreed to exchange 175 prisoners as well as the return of 23 ‘seriously wounded’ Ukrainians as a ‘gesture of goodwill.’
Just moments after his call with Trump was intended to take place, Zelenskyy said in a post on X that ‘one of the largest POW exchanges’ had taken place and showed a picture of men with Ukrainian flags draped over them returning from Russian captivity.
Zelenskyy confirmed that 175 soldiers and 22 ‘defenders’ had been released.
‘We are also grateful to all our partners, especially the United Arab Emirates, for making today’s exchange possible,’ he added, though he did not mention U.S. efforts in the negotiations.
International leaders voiced frustration that the deal Ukraine agreed to last week was not accepted by Putin during Trump’s discussions with him, though Trump on Tuesday told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on the ‘Ingraham Angle’ that pushing Putin further into a ceasefire would have been tough. ‘Russia has the advantage.’
Zelenskyy’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions following the Trump-Putin call, but in a message posted to X, the Ukrainian president argued that ‘Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire.’
‘It would be right for the world to respond by rejecting any attempts by Putin to prolong the war,’ he continued, highlighting Russia’s continued attacks on Ukrainian civilians, including a Tuesday night Shahed drone strike on a hospital in Ukraine’s Sumy region.
‘Sanctions against Russia. Assistance to Ukraine. Strengthening allies in the free world and working toward security guarantees,’ Zelenskyy listed as steps the Western world should take to counter Putin. ‘Only a real cessation of strikes on civilian infrastructure by Russia, as proof of its willingness to end this war, can bring peace closer.’