Trump speaks to Putin, Zelenskyy as U.S. defence secretary dismisses prospect of Ukraine NATO membership

U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says a return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is unrealistic and the Trump administration does not see NATO membership for Kyiv as part of a solution to the war triggered by Russia's invasion.

Hegseth's comments on Wednesday came as U.S. President Donald Trump made his first foray into diplomacy over a war he has promised to end rapidly. 

Hegseth, at a meeting involving NATO members in Brussels, said the White House does not see NATO membership for Ukraine as "a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement" to end the war.

Hegseth said the U.S. remains committed "full stop" to NATO and a defence partnership with Europe. But Ukraine's security guarantees should be backed by "capable European and non-European troops," the Pentagon chief said.

"If these troops are deployed as peacekeepers to Ukraine at any point, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission and they should not be covered under Article 5," he said, referring to the alliance's mutual defence clause.

Shortly after, Trump said on social media that he "just had a lengthy and highly productive call" with Russian President Vladimir Putin on a wide range of topics, including the war, the Middle East and artificial intelligence. Trump had been circumspect with reporters in his first month as to whether he'd had any conversations with Putin.

Russian news agencies confirmed the conversation and said that Putin extended an invitation to Trump to come to Moscow for talks.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said they "agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately," and that he would begin by phoning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

After a call with the Ukrainian leader, Trump said: "The conversation went very well. He, like President Putin, wants to make PEACE."

Trump separately told reporters in the Oval Office that he believes "we're on the way to getting peace," and that he wants "to see people stop getting killed."

Zelenskyy's office said Trump and the Ukrainian president spoke by phone for about an hour, while the Kremlin said Putin's call with Trump lasted nearly an hour and a half.

"I had a meaningful conversation with @POTUS. We long talked about opportunities to achieve peace, discussed our readiness to work together at the team level, and Ukraine's technological capabilities — including drones and other advanced industries," Zelenskyy wrote on X.

Trump said he was tasking members of his cabinet and other officials to begin leading negotiations to seek an end to a war.

Zelenskyy and other senior Ukrainian officials are expected to meet members of Trump's administration on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference later this week to discuss the war.