Trump said he is holding talks with Putin and Zelensky on Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump said that he had held telephone talks with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky on the issue of settling the war in Ukraine.

According to him, the contacts were productive and were part of Washington’s efforts to revive the diplomatic process.

The statement came amid a prolonged pause in negotiations and continued escalation on the front. The last round of trilateral consultations involving the United States, Ukraine, and Russia took place in Geneva on February 16–18, while a meeting planned for March was postponed and has not yet been given a new date.

An additional diplomatic impulse came after Zelensky’s visit to Azerbaijan, where he met with President Ilham Aliyev. The sides signed six agreements in the fields of defense, energy, and trade. Zelensky also said that Ukraine was ready to hold trilateral talks with Russia and the United States on Azerbaijani territory if Moscow was prepared for diplomacy.

In Russia, the reaction to this initiative was mixed. Senator Vladimir Dzhabarov allowed for the possibility of talks in Azerbaijan, calling the country an acceptable venue. State Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin, by contrast, viewed the proposal more as a diplomatic gesture than a real initiative.

The prospects for resuming formal negotiations remain uncertain. Kyiv insists on returning to diplomacy, while Moscow continues to put forward conditions unacceptable to the Ukrainian side, including demands regarding Donbas.