President Donald Trump claimed that he has held his first telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin since taking office, the New York Post reported on February 8.

Trump revealed that he has spoken with President Putin by phone, and said the Russian leader "wants to see people stop dying" in the ongoing war in an exclusive interview with The Post aboard Air Force One.

“I’d better not say,” said Trump when asked how many times the two leaders have spoken, but he did say he believes Putin “does care” about the killing on the battlefield.

The two men have met several times during Trump’s first presidency and got on well together. “I always had a good relationship with Putin,” he said, unlike his predecessor. “Biden was an embarrassment to our nation. A complete embarrassment.”

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to confirm or deny the two had spoken when quizzed about the call after the news was reported.

Putin has been signalling to the Kremlin that he is ready to talk to Trump. Putin offered Trump his congratulations on his election in televised remarkets only hours before the inauguration ceremony on January 20, adding that the war in Ukraine “might not have happened” if Trump had been in office in 2022. He also said that he wants to meet Trump “as soon as possible” to start widely expected ceasefire talks.

A face-to-face meeting is currently being actively planned, according to reports, that might take place in the Middle East in Qatar or UAE.

The  revelation comes amid a series of strategic moves by the Trump administration to address the conflict. His newly appointed Ukraine special envoy National Security Advisor Keith Kellogg is due to be at the Munich Security Conference this week where he may present Trump’s plan to bring the conflict to an end. However, other reports say Kellogg will only meet with other European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to get their input on a possible plan and leave the announcement of the details of the plan to Trump himself.

Trump has also said he will meet with Zelenskiy, who is expected to fly to Washington soon for the meeting. Bankova (Ukraine’s equivalent of the Kremlin) is in “active” talks with the White House on a possible deal that will give US investors access to Ukraine’s considerable mineral resources, which were described in detail in a recent government report.

However, Zelenskiy qualified the mooted deal at the weekend, saying: "that does not mean we are giving them away to anyone, not even to our strategic partners."

"It's about partnership. Invest your money. Bring in investments. Let's develop [the resources] together, let's generate revenue. Most importantly, this is about the security of the Western world and the European continent. These burglars – Russia and its allies – won't get their hands on everything," he said in an interview with Reuters.

He added that the United States has been providing substantial support to Ukraine and expects a return on that investment. However, he also added that any minerals deal would have to include a promise to provide security guarantees that Zelenskiy sees as essential to getting any deal done.

Zelenskiy continues to lobby the west for support as the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are increasingly fighting the Russians with their backs against the wall. During his evening address at the weekend he said that Putin doesn’t want to end the war and warned that Russia is reinforcing its military capabilities rather than seeking a ceasefire, expanding its army by over 100,000 soldiers.

The Russian army is reportedly forcing mobilised soldiers to either sign permanent contracts or be sent to die in assaults. The reasons are unclear, but it may be intended to prevent them demobilising if a ceasefire deal is reached, according to the Russian pro-war 'Philologist in ambush' Telegram channel.

"Ending the war in Ukraine in 2025 is possible, but for this to happen, the necessary measures must be taken. In particular, sanctions against Russia must be strengthened and our country must be given security guarantees," Zelenskiy told ITV in an interview.