Trump Says Putin Wants Deal After Call, Sees Possible Three-Way Summit

U.S. President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin wants a deal after the two discussed ways to end the war in Ukraine.

Bloomberg reported on September 9 that Trump, speaking to reporters, described his call with Putin as a "great conversation" and said, "He wants to make a deal." He added that it would be "very good" if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also wanted a deal.

Trump also said a three-way summit involving Putin and Zelensky could happen. He claimed both Russia and Ukraine were exhausted by the long-running war.

Still, he pointed to the relationship between the two leaders as the biggest obstacle to progress in negotiations. "The problem is two people who hate each other," Trump said.

Trump and Putin held the call on September 8. Before that, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner visited Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend and met separately with Putin and Zelensky. The visits indicate the U.S. is moving to mediate a restart of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin had disclosed the call earlier, but this was the first confirmation from the U.S. side. According to the Kremlin, the two leaders spoke for about an hour in a conversation that was "constructive and quite frank" and agreed to remain in contact.