section_path: Background
section_name: Background
paragraph_text: Background
  
  The summit came less than a week after Donald Trump's phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 12 February 2025 on a wide range of topics in which Trump and Putin agreed to begin negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. The day before the summit, several European leaders met in Paris to discuss the war in Ukraine. At the time of the summit, Russia forces had been making slow gains in southeastern Ukraine, however Ukrainian troops still occupied parts of Russia around the town of Sudzha. Trump had previously promised to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, however he later rolled back on this promise, saying his administration's new goal is to end the war within 100 days of taking office. The meeting was also held only two days after the conclusion of the 2025 Munich Security Conference, in which United States Vice President JD Vance made several controversial remarks on Europe, criticising German mainstream political parties' firewall against far-right parties in Germany and downplaying the threat of Russia to Europe.
  
  On 16 February 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Ukraine and Europe would be part of any future "real negotiations" to end the war. President Trump said on the same day that the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy "will be involved" in peace negotiations.