Trump held phone calls with Russia, Ukraine discussing peace talks; What next?

Talks could start sooner than later to end the crisis in Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump held phone calls with the leaders of both Russia and Ukraine and signaled a potential breakthrough in ending the war.

Park Kun-woo takes a closer look.

Hopes of peace talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war are growing.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he had a phone call lasting over an hour with Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussing securing a ceasefire in the near future.

"I can say with great confidence he wants to see it ended also. That's good. And we're going to work toward getting it ended and as fast as possible."

He added he ordered top U.S. officials to begin talks aimed at ending the war.

Both leaders also agreed to meet in the future, with Putin inviting Trump to Moscow.

Aside from that, Trump said their first meeting would probably take place in Saudi Arabia.

Trump also had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, which Zelenskyy described as a long and meaningful discussion.

"We believe that America's strength, together with us and all our partners, is enough to pressure Russia and Putin into peace."

However, one expert says some uncertain factors, including Ukraine's potential membership in NATO, remain that can complicate the peace talks from proceeding.

"I think Ukraine's stance to join NATO will not be accepted. Instead, Ukraine will still likely negotiate to secure at least some form of security assistance from the U.S."

Setting territorial boundaries for Russia and Ukraine is another issue.

"Since Russia's goal was to gain more territory, this is a part it cannot easily concede. However, the justification for this is weaker than opposing Ukraine's NATO membership. But it seems likely that Russia will give up some territory in exchange for things like U.S.' sanctions relief."

This comes with Russia currently occupying around 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea and the areas of Donetsk and Luhansk that were taken before 2022.

But the expert also stressed that it's unfortunate to see such a colonial-style expansion well after World War Two as countries had previously agreed to stop, and that it will now be remembered as a very bad precedent.

Park Kun-woo, Arirang News.