U.S. President Donald Trump said he has spoken to Russia's Vladimir Putin and that he believes "we are making progress" in ending the war in Ukraine, raising fears in Kyiv that it was being sidelined in the process.
Speaking to reporters on February 9 aboard Air Force One as he traveled to the Super Bowl, the American football championship game, in New Orleans, Trump confirmed reports he had spoken with Putin, but he declined to specify whether the talks took place before or after he was inaugurated on January 20.
"I've had it. Let's just say I've had it [a conversation with Putin]...And I expect to have many more conversations. We have to get that war ended," Trump said.
"If we are talking, I don’t want to tell you about the conversations. I do believe we're making progress. We want to stop the Ukraine-Russia war," he added.
SEE ALSO: Ukraine Live Briefing: Trump Suspends Military AidHe also said his administration was in contact with Ukrainian officials, without being specific.
"We're talking to both sides," he said.
That did little to assuage fears in Kyiv over talks between Moscow and Washington taking place without Ukraine's direct participation.
"It's essential to understand that when we talk about the principle of 'nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,' we mean that decisions shouldn't be made without Ukraine's participation," Oleksandr Merezhko, a Ukrainian deputy and the chair of the parliamentary committee on foreign policy and interparliamentary relations, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service.
"Putin doesn't want negotiations, and he wants to decide Ukraine's fate without Ukraine's participation. He hopes that the United States and Russia will agree on Ukraine's fate, and Ukraine will become part of Russia's sphere of influence."
The Kremlin on February 10 reiterated its statement from the previous day that it could neither confirm nor deny whether Putin and Trump had spoken.
Trump's remarks came ahead of what could be a major week in diplomacy related to the Russia-Ukraine war in which both sides have suffered massive losses since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of February 24, 2022.
The lead White House envoy for Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Munich Security Conference, which opens on February 14.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance is also expected to attend the conference and meet with Zelenskyy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are scheduled to be in Munich.
Trump has promised to end the war but has not set out yet in public how he would do so.
In an interview published on February 8 by The New York Post, Trump first said he had spoken to Putin, but he did not indicate when the conversation occurred or give further details.
SEE ALSO: Kellogg Rejects Reports He Will Reveal Trump's Ukraine Peace Plan In MunichEarlier on February 10, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told state media that Moscow had not received any proposals serious enough to warrant talks, without being specific.
Trump, meanwhile, said on February 7 that he is likely to meet with Zelenskyy soon as U.S. efforts to end the war gather force. He gave no details, but said the meeting could be held in Washington as "I'm not going to Kyiv."
Zelenskyy has voiced confidence that Trump can pressure Putin into ending the war.
In an interview with British broadcaster ITV on February 7, Zelenskyy said talks between Ukraine and Russia are possible, but only if the West doesn't abandon Kyiv.
SEE ALSO: Trump Says He Will 'Probably' Meet With Zelenskyy Next Week"If I had the understanding that America and Europe would not abandon us, and that they would support us and give us security guarantees, then I would be ready for any format of negotiations," Zelenskyy said.
Trump several times has said he was planning to meet with Putin for talks on ending the conflict, although no specifics have been discussed publicly.
Hard-line Russian lawmaker Leonid Slutsky, head of the parliament's international affairs committee, was quoted by state media as saying preparations for a Trump-Putin meeting were at "an advanced stage" and that it could occur in February or March, although the Kremlin has not confirmed the report.
Putin has said he was open to discussing a deal with Trump but ruled out making any major territorial concessions and insists that Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO.