On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a lengthy phone conversation, during which they agreed to immediately begin negotiations to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Trump called Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky later that day, and then announced that both Moscow and Kiev were interested in ending the hostilities.
"Whatever final decisions will be made over Ukraine's future, I can only surmise will first start with a united agreement between the US and Russia. Should an agreement fail to be met, the conflict in Ukraine will continue," Rossi said.
The political pundit described the conversation between the US and Russian leaders as the highest-level engagement between Washington and Moscow in years.
"Beyond that, whatever additional specifics Trump might have mentioned (like Ukraine's NATO membership) remains only Trump's rhetoric, so I would wait for a formal statement either from President Putin or [Russian] Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to offer any additional specifics," Rossi said.
Trump vowed during the 2024 election campaign to end the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. His special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said in mid-January that the administration's goal was to end the conflict within Trump's first 100 days in office.