Trump reveals talks with Putin to negotiate end to Russia-Ukraine war

US President Donald Trump on Saturday told New York Post that he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone to try to negotiate an end to the Ukraine crisis.

"I'd better not say," said Trump when New York Post asked how many times the two leaders have spoken.

But he believes Putin "does care" about the killing on the battlefield.

"He wants to see people stop dying," Trump told the Post adding, "All those dead people. Young, young, beautiful people. They're like your kids, two million of them - and for no reason."

Trump said that the three-year-old war "never would have happened" if he had been president in 2022.

"I always had a good relationship with Putin," he said, unlike his predecessor Joe Biden.

"Biden was an embarrassment to our nation. A complete embarrassment," Trump told the New York Post

Trump further told the publication that he has a concrete plan to end the crisis.

"I hope it's fast. Every day people are dying. This war is so bad in Ukraine. I want to end this damn thing."

Addressing National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who joined him in his study aboard Air Force One Friday night, Trump said: "Let's get these meetings going. They want to meet. Every day people are dying. Young handsome soldiers are being killed. Young men, like my sons. On both sides. All over the battlefield."

US Vice President JD Vance will meet Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Munich Security Conference next week.

Trump has said he wants to strike a USD 500 million deal with Zelenskyy to access rare-earth minerals and gas in Ukraine in exchange for security guarantees in any potential peace settlement.

Trump while attending the signing ceremony at Oval Office on January 21, said that the Russia-Ukraine conflict would not have happened if he were the President.

"We are going to try and get it done as quickly as possible. The war between Ukraine and Russia would have never started if I were the President," he said.