{"id":57453,"date":"2025-12-28T14:38:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T18:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/high-stakes-diplomacy-putin-and-trump-align-on-ukraines-donbas-future-amid-zelenskyy-engagements\/57453\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T14:38:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T18:38:27","slug":"high-stakes-diplomacy-putin-and-trump-align-on-ukraines-donbas-future-amid-zelenskyy-engagements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/high-stakes-diplomacy-putin-and-trump-align-on-ukraines-donbas-future-amid-zelenskyy-engagements\/57453\/","title":{"rendered":"High-Stakes Diplomacy: Putin and Trump Align on Ukraine&#8217;s Donbas Future Amid Zelenskyy Engagements"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Russian President Vladimir Putin and former U.S. President Donald <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a> held a 75-minute phone call, agreeing that Ukraine must make a &quot;bold decision&quot; on Donbas without delay and that a temporary EU-Ukraine ceasefire would prolong the conflict.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The call, initiated by <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a> and described as amicable, precedes a planned meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with both leaders agreeing to speak again after that encounter.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer reaffirmed &quot;steadfast support&quot; for Ukraine in a detailed phone call with President Zelenskyy, welcoming ongoing diplomacy and praising Trump&#39;s continued engagement in securing peace.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Ukraine denies Russian claims of full control over Huliaipole, while a Ukrainian MP expressed optimism that the upcoming Zelenskyy-Trump meeting would serve Kyiv&#39;s interests.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In a significant diplomatic development, Russian President <strong>Vladimir Putin<\/strong> and former U.S. President <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong> engaged in a 75-minute phone call, signaling a potential alignment on the future of the conflict in Ukraine. The conversation, initiated by <strong>Trump<\/strong> and characterized by an amicable tone, saw both leaders concur that Ukraine must make a &quot;bold decision&quot; regarding the <strong>Donbas<\/strong> region without delay. They also reportedly believe that a temporary ceasefire proposed by the <strong>European Union<\/strong> and Ukraine would only prolong the conflict.<\/p>\n<p>Kremlin aide <strong>Yuri Ushakov<\/strong> confirmed that <strong>Putin<\/strong> and <strong>Trump<\/strong> discussed Ukraine ahead of <strong>Trump&#39;s<\/strong> upcoming meeting with Ukrainian President <strong>Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/strong>, and plan to speak again following that engagement. <strong>Trump<\/strong> reportedly &quot;listened carefully&quot; to Russia\u2019s assessment of Ukraine settlement prospects during their call. The leaders also exchanged Christmas greetings.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, ahead of his meeting with <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong>, Ukrainian President <strong>Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/strong> held a detailed phone call with UK Prime Minister <strong>Keir Starmer<\/strong>. Downing Street stated that <strong>PM Starmer<\/strong> reaffirmed the UK&#39;s &quot;steadfast support for Ukraine&quot; and its commitment to achieving a &quot;just and lasting peace.&quot; Both leaders welcomed ongoing diplomatic efforts and commended <strong>Donald Trump&#39;s<\/strong> continued engagement in securing peace.<\/p>\n<p>From Kyiv&#39;s perspective, Ukrainian MP <strong>Volodymyr Ariev<\/strong> stated that they expect the meeting between <strong>Zelenskyy<\/strong> and <strong>Trump<\/strong> to serve Kyiv&#39;s interests. On the battlefield, Ukraine has refuted Moscow&#39;s claim of capturing the entire town of <strong>Huliaipole<\/strong>, stating that only a portion of it is under Russian control.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Russian President Vladimir Putin and former U.S. President Donald Trump held a 75-minute phone call, agreeing that Ukraine [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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