U.S. President Donald Trump said that he had a "very good call" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, days before his scheduled Alaska meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Washington

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

President Trump participated in a virtual meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders ahead of his planned face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. During the call, Zelenskyy warned that Putin may be bluffing about ending the war and stressed that Ukraine must be included in any talks regarding territorial lines. 

Trump described the conversation as 'very good' and indicated that he would speak with Zelenskyy again after meeting with Putin. The White House has not provided a full account of the call, and it remains unclear whether a trilateral meeting involving Trump, Putin, and Zelenskyy will take place.

Trump had 'very good call' with Zelenskyy ahead of Putin meeting

All right, so we start with this, the first of multiple high-stakes meetings this week coming to an end. Of course, we're talking about a virtual call between President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and several European leaders. The details of that unfolding at this hour, including a warning from Zelensky that Putin is, quote, bluffing about putting an end to the war. OK, so let's talk about that. That call happening just days ahead of the president's face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled for Alaska. We now know where those talks will take place and why Zelensky did not get an invite. Moments ago, Mr. Trump sounded off on that in that virtual meeting during remarks announcing the honorees for the Kennedy Center. Let's listen. How were your calls this morning with European leaders? And was it your call not to invite President Zelensky to your meeting with Putin? No, just the opposite. No, no. We had a very good call. He was on the call. President Zelensky was on the call. I would rate it a 10, you know, very, very friendly. I know the leaders because I was at NATO, as you know. I took it from 2 percent to 5 percent, 2 percent that wasn't paid, 5 percent that is paid, which is trillions of dollars in defense capability. No, it was always going to be I was going to meet with President Putin. And then after that, I'm going to call the leaders and President Zelensky. I'm going to call President Zelensky and then I'll call probably in that order the leaders. So let's go live to the White House and CBS News reporter Torian Small. Torian, what more are we learning about what happened in that call? Yeah, so, Reid, the president is holding his cards pretty close to his chest. We're still waiting on a full readout of the conversation and if that'll happen, whether or not it come from the White House or from those European leaders involved in this conversation. But it was clear that at least on our allies' side, so that being the German chancellor who requested this meeting as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, that they wanted to be in his ear before that sit down with Putin happens. Zelensky made it clear any conversation about the lines of demarcation must involve Ukraine in order to protect their own interests, even though the president has previously said, just as recent as this week, that a land swap is likely to happen. Zelensky likely looking at this and saying either he's at the table or on the menu, which is why we saw this conversation happen. But still, the president isn't saying much outside of the fact that he's willing to have another conversation with Zelensky after his meeting with Putin and whether or not a trilateral meeting could happen is still to be seen, but the president isn't ruling that out, at least until after his face-to-face with Putin happens first read.

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Trump had 'very good call' with Zelenskyy ahead of Putin meeting

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Ukraine Invasion