Trump Says Putin Agreed to Negotiations for Ending Ukraine Conflict as U.S. Releases Cybercriminal

The U.S. authorities is releasing Alexander Vinnik, a Russian cybercriminal who allegedly laundered tens of millions, as a part of a prisoner change with Russia, in keeping with a report from the Associated Press. Vinnik ran BTC-e, one of many world’s largest crypto exchanges, and allegedly laundered crypto for Fancy Bear, the Russian group that’s believed to have hacked the Democratic Nationwide Committee’s emails in 2016, in keeping with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

Information of Vinnik’s launch got here shortly earlier than President Donald Trump introduced he had a “prolonged and extremely productive telephone name” with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the warfare in Ukraine. Trump’s submit claimed he and Putin had mentioned “Ukraine, the Center East, Power, Synthetic Intelligence, the ability of the Greenback, and varied different topics,” whereas additionally being loaded with platitudes for Russia and an excellent way forward for “working collectively.”

“We have now additionally agreed to have our respective groups begin negotiations instantly, and we are going to start by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to tell him of the dialog, one thing which I will probably be doing proper now,” Trump wrote Wednesday.

It’s not clear but what Ukraine’s president could also be prepared to surrender for peace, however Trump claimed shortly after the submit about his name with Putin that he had spoken with President Zelesnky, writing that “He, like President Putin, needs to make PEACE.”

“We mentioned quite a lot of subjects having to do with the Conflict, however largely, the assembly that’s being arrange on Friday in Munich, the place Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the Delegation,” Trump wrote. “I’m hopeful that the outcomes of that assembly will probably be optimistic. It’s time to cease this ridiculous Conflict, the place there was large, and completely pointless, DEATH and DESTRUCTION. God bless the folks of Russia and Ukraine!”

Clearly, we have now to take Trump’s phrase on the telephone name at this level and no person is aware of how Ukraine may very well really feel a couple of deal.  And Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned on Wednesday that he didn’t believe the 2014 borders of Ukraine was a practical objective, one thing that might virtually actually concern Zelenskyy. In an interview on Tuesday, the Ukrainian president did say that he was open to presumably swapping territory with Russia in an effort to deliver peace.

Hegseth: “We should begin by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic goal … the US doesn’t consider that NATO membership for Ukraine is a practical final result of a negotiated settlement.” pic.twitter.com/n08HaWYJt1

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 12, 2025

Russia launched American Marc Fogel as a prisoner on Tuesday, who promptly went to the White Home to reward Trump. Fogel is a college instructor who was arrested for bringing marijuana into the nation. The New York Occasions characterised the discharge of Vinnik and Fogel as gestures of goodwill by every nation, however Trump didn’t acknowledge Vinnik in his Fact Social submit about Putin on Wednesday.

“Hundreds of thousands of individuals have died in a Conflict that might not have occurred if I had been President, however it did occur, so it should finish,” Trump wrote, full along with his bizarre and random capitalization.

“No extra lives must be misplaced!” Trump continued. “I need to thank President Putin for his effort and time with respect to this name, and for the discharge, yesterday, of Marc Fogel, an exquisite man that I personally greeted final evening on the White Home. I consider this effort will result in a profitable conclusion, hopefully quickly!”

Vinnik’s now-defunct crypto change BTC-e was allegedly laundering $66 million price of crypto every single day at its peak in 2017. The Russian nationwide was arrested whereas vacationing in Greece that yr and was extradited to the U.S. to face fees. Vinnik pleaded responsible to cash laundering last year.