U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Sunday that he believes the United States is making headway in discussions aimed at resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. However, he refrained from sharing specifics regarding any interactions he may have had with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

While speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump suggested that he and Putin have been in communication, which would represent the first officially recognized dialogue between a U.S. president and Putin since early 2022.

When questioned about whether his conversation with Putin occurred after he took office on January 20 or prior, Trump responded, “I’ve had it. Let’s just say I’ve had it…And I expect to have many more conversations. We have to get that war ended.” He added, “If we are talking, I don’t want to tell you about the conversations. I do believe we’re making progress. We want to stop the Ukraine-Russia war.”

The president emphasized that the United States is maintaining contact with both Russia and Ukraine, stating, “We’re talking to both sides.”

While Trump has committed to ending the war, he has yet to publicly outline his strategy for achieving this goal. In a recent interview with the New York Post, he mentioned that he “better not say” how many times he and Putin have communicated and did not reveal when their most recent conversation occurred.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented to the TASS state news agency that “many different communications are emerging.” He added, “I personally may not know something, be unaware of something. Therefore, in this case, I can neither confirm nor deny it.”

U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz refrained from providing details when questioned about the communications between the two nations. “There are certainly numerous sensitive discussions taking place,” Waltz stated during an interview with NBC News.

TRUMP-PUTIN SUMMIT?

Former President Trump has consistently expressed his desire to conclude the conflict and has indicated he would meet with Putin to address the situation, although no specific date or location for such a meeting has been disclosed. On Sunday, Trump informed reporters that he would engage with Putin at an appropriate moment. According to a Reuters report earlier this month, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are viewed by Russia as potential locations for a summit.

In the upcoming days, a number of U.S. officials will travel to Europe, partly to discuss the ongoing war. This delegation includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, and Keith Kellogg, the special envoy for the Ukraine conflict. Waltz suggested that Trump might consider employing sanctions and tariffs to encourage Putin to enter negotiations. He also mentioned that U.S. and Ukrainian officials would explore the possibility of the U.S. accessing Ukraine’s rare earth resources as a form of compensation for American support to the Eastern European nation. On June 14, Putin outlined his initial conditions for an immediate cessation of hostilities: Ukraine must abandon its NATO aspirations and withdraw its forces from all territories of four Ukrainian regions that are claimed and predominantly controlled by Russia.

In November, Reuters reported that President Putin is willing to engage in discussions regarding a peace agreement for Ukraine with former President Trump, although he firmly rejects any significant territorial concessions and demands that Kyiv relinquish its aspirations to join NATO. The Kremlin has consistently advised caution regarding speculation about potential communications with Trump’s team concerning a peace settlement. Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the Russian parliament’s international affairs committee, was quoted by the state RIA news agency on Thursday, indicating that preparations for such a meeting are at an “advanced stage” and could occur in February or March.

Putin last communicated with former U.S. President Joe Biden in February 2022, just prior to the deployment of thousands of troops into Ukraine. In his 2024 book “War,” Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward reported that Trump had direct conversations with Putin as many as seven times after leaving the White House in 2021. When asked about this in a Bloomberg interview last year, Trump remarked, “If I did, it’s a smart thing.” The Kremlin has denied Woodward’s claims.

Additionally, Reuters, The Washington Post, and Axios reported separately that Trump and Putin had discussions in early November, which the Kremlin also refuted.

On Friday, Trump mentioned that he is likely to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy the following week to talk about ending the conflict. Zelenskiy informed Reuters that he seeks to provide the United States with rare earths and other minerals in exchange for financial support for Ukraine’s war efforts.

In 2022, Putin initiated the deployment of thousands of troops into Ukraine, describing it as a “special military operation” aimed at protecting Russian speakers and addressing what he claimed was a significant threat to Russia posed by potential Ukrainian NATO membership. Ukraine and its Western allies, led by the United States, have characterized the invasion as an imperialistic land grab and have committed to defeating Russian forces. Currently, Moscow controls an area of Ukraine roughly equivalent to the size of Virginia and is advancing at its fastest rate since the early stages of the 2022 invasion.