Trump says he discussed ending Ukraine war with Russia's Putin

Adds more from Trump's statement, paragraphs 2 through 7

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday about starting negotiations immediately to end the war in Ukraine, and said he would call Ukraine's president to inform him of the conversation.

Trump's prioritization of speaking with Russia before Ukraine is a departure from the policy of the Biden administration that stressed "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine."

"We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskiy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now," Trump said in a post on his social media platform.

Trump said the two leaders agreed on the pressing need to stop the killing in Ukraine.

The war began three years ago when Moscow invaded its neighbor. In response the U.S. and its NATO allies have sent billions of dollars in military aid and other support to Kyiv.

Trump said he and Putin agreed to work closely together and visit each other's nations.

"I just had a lengthy and highly productive phone call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects," he said.

Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants to end the war in Ukraine swiftly, after hundreds of thousands of deaths, said on Sunday he thought he was making progress toward that goal, though he has not set out how he aims to end the conflict.