Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been a totemic figure of the West’s unified stance against a marauding, autocratic Russia.
Putin sees Zelensky as a personal adversary, someone who has repeatedly defied and humiliated him.
Trump calls Putin AND Zelensky to begin talks Trump calls Putin AND Zelensky to begin talks
The conversations opened the possibility of Mr Trump visiting the Russian president in Moscow or of Mr Putin travelling to the White House in what would be an extraordinary thaw in US-Russia relations.