Trump said on Wednesday he had held a "highly productive phone call" with Putin and they had agreed to start negotiations immediately.

European allies should 'create effects on ground, in terms of plans' in order to get seat at negotiation table, Mark Rutte says

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday brushed off European complaints that President Trump’s surprise one-on-one talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin amounted to a betrayal of Ukraine and stood by his comments a day earlier that it was unrealistic for Kyiv to expect a peace deal to return all the land it had lost since Russia invaded nearly three years ago.

European governments are reeling after the Trump administration signaled that it is planning face-to-face talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine.

Nato chief Mark Rutte, the head of the 32-nation defence bloc Nato, on Thursday insisted that Ukraine must be closely involved in any peace talks. His comments, which echoed statements from a meeting of European foreign ministers,

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Thursday said any peace deal to end the fighting in Ukraine must be enduring and that Kyiv should be closely involved in the negotiations with Russia, as America’s allies adjusted to the stunning news that President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had held a long one-on-one talk this week about a possible ceasefire deal.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reacted cautiously on Thursday to US President Donald Trump's announcement of planned negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end Russia's war on Ukraine.