Trump and Putin discuss end to Ukraine war

Good morning. We start today with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s phone call about ending the war in Ukraine. Plus:

• Foxconn confirms its interest in Nissan

• Can Trump make bitcoin useful?

• Chinese tech stocks enter a bull market

President Donald Trump has said Washington and Moscow will begin negotiations “immediately” on ending the war in Ukraine after speaking with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Yesterday’s call indicated a dramatic turnaround in the US-Russia relationship amid signs Washington will dial back its support for Ukraine after almost three years of war. Trump said the two leaders also agreed to visit each other’s nations.

The call, which the Kremlin said lasted nearly 90 minutes, was the first time the US and Russia had spoken at the highest level since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Trump spoke to Putin before calling Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, in a sign that the US may not want to work with Kyiv or the EU on a common strategy to bring Russia to the negotiating table. Here’s how European officials responded to the news.

• US pours cold water on Ukraine’s peace goals: A return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an “unrealistic objective”, the US defence secretary said yesterday.

• Prisoner exchange: Alexander Vinnik, a Russian who operated cryptocurrency platform BTC-e, is to be released as part of the exchange that freed American teacher Marc Fogel, a US official said.

• Defence spending: Military spending in Russia now outstrips all of Europe’s defence budgets combined, according to a study.

Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: The US reports fourth-quarter GDP estimates and PPI inflation figures for January.

• India-US relations: Narendra Modi meets Donald Trump in Washington, where the Indian prime minister will seek to fend off US action on tariffs and migration.

• Nato: Defence ministers from the alliance meet in Brussels.

• Results: Sony, Nissan and Honda report earnings.

How will the world tackle the climate challenge in 2025? Join the Financial Times’ leading climate journalists for an exclusive look at the key events, topics and themes shaping the global sustainability agenda this year. Register for the free online webinar here.

Five more top stories

1. Foxconn will consider acquiring Renault’s stake in Nissan if it is a condition for working with either carmaker on electric vehicles, the Taiwanese contract electronics manufacturer said yesterday. Foxconn chair Young Liu confirmed earlier reports of the discussions with Renault, which follow the collapse of merger talks between Nissan and Honda. Read more about the iPhone assembler’s interest in Nissan.

2. Chevron said it would slash up to 20 per cent of its global workforce by the end of 2026 as part of a cost-cutting drive designed to simplify the oil major’s business and boost growth. The deep cost-cutting plans by Chevron come in spite of Trump’s call for producers to “drill, baby, drill” and generate another oil boom.

3. Saudi Arabia has launched a scathing state media campaign against Benjamin Netanyahu, pointing to growing frustration in the Gulf state’s royal court with the Israeli prime minister and the war in Gaza. The unusually hostile barrage was triggered by Netanyahu joking in an interview last week about creating a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia.

4. Activist fund Farallon Capital Management has taken a significant stake in Astellas, one of Japan’s biggest pharmaceutical companies. The move is part of a wave of shareholder activism in Japan as governance reforms by the Tokyo exchange push companies to take investor demands more seriously. Here are the changes Farallon is pushing for.

5. Indian online brokerages face a hefty hit to their revenues, say industry executives, after the regulator intervened to curb young retail investors’ frenzied trading of risky derivatives markets. Millions of young Indians were gambling in the derivatives markets to try to quickly profit from the country’s soaring stock market, with nine out of 10 losing money.

Visual story

Trump has vowed to make the US the world’s “crypto capital”, words that have helped supercharge bitcoin’s price to six-figure highs. Enthusiasts are particularly excited by talk of a national bitcoin stockpile. But how such a reserve would work, and what it would mean for the cryptocurrency, is unclear. And would taxpayers be left holding the bag if — or when — prices fall?

We’re also reading . . . 

• Artificial intelligence: Former Google chief Eric Schmidt warned that western countries need to focus on building open-source AI models or risk losing out to China.

• Victoria’s Secret: Can the lingerie brand that built a multibillion-dollar empire on extravagant shows and a provocative image win over Gen Z?

• The battle over WFH: Companies are increasingly monitoring office attendance and using the data gathered in performance and pay reviews.

Chart of the day

A benchmark for Chinese technology stocks has risen more than 20 per cent in the past month, entering a bull market following DeepSeek’s AI breakthrough.

Take a break from the news . . . 

What can we learn about negotiating from Donald Trump’s aggressive style? The US president is a useful case study in the tactics of unreasonable people, writes Jonathan Guthrie in his latest Financial Thinking column.