Trump says he had 'very good call' with Ukraine's Zelenskiy, pledges to end war

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he had a "very good call" on Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and pledged to end the war pitting Kyiv against Moscow through negotiations.

Zelenskiy also reported his conversation with Trump and expressed thanks for U.S. military assistance. But he made no reference in a post on social media platform X to efforts to end the 28-month-old conflict.

Trump has said he will end the war in Ukraine before he even takes office in January should he win the Nov. 5 election. He has also said that had he been in office when the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, the war would not have taken place.

In his Truth Social post, Trump said that as president he "will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives."

"Both sides will be able to come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path forward to prosperity," Trump said.

Though Trump has put forward few tangible policy proposals, he told Reuters in an interview last year that Ukraine might have to cede some territory to reach a peace agreement.

In his post, Zelenskiy said he congratulated Trump on becoming the Republican nominee and condemned the assassination attempt on him last week.

"I wished him strength and absolute safety in the future," Zelenskiy said.

"I noted the vital bipartisan and bicameral American support for protecting our nation's freedom and independence."

Ukraine, he said, "will always be grateful to the United States for its help in strengthening our ability to resist Russian terror. Russian attacks on our cities and villages continue every day."

Zelenskiy rejects any negotiations with Russia on ending the conflict as long as Russian troops remain in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president has proposed a peace plan, showcased again at a "world summit" last month to which Russia was not invited, that calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine's 1991 post-Soviet borders.

Russian troops occupy about 20% of Ukrainian territory. Moscow's forces have made incremental gains in the east of the country along the 1,000-km (600-mile) front since capturing the key city of Avdiivka in February.

(Reporting by Eric Beech; editing by Costas Pitas, Ron Popeski and Leslie Adler)