▲ Putin, Trump
The Kremlin has announced that U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to discuss raising the level of representatives participating in direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
According to TASS and RIA Novosti, Kremlin foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov confirmed that the two leaders spoke for about 40 minutes over the phone at the initiative of President Trump and made this statement.
The call between President Trump and President Putin occurred when President Trump temporarily halted a meeting at the White House on the 18th, where he was holding discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders.
After the meeting, President Trump mentioned the call with President Putin on Truth Social, stating that he had begun coordinating a meeting between President Putin and President Zelensky. However, instead of directly addressing a summit between Putin and Zelensky, Russia referred to the level of the delegations.
Advisor Ushakov noted, “The U.S. President informed President Putin about the negotiations just concluded at the White House with Zelensky and leaders of various European countries,” and described the dialogue between the two presidents as “frank and very constructive.”
He stated that both leaders supported the continuation of direct negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, explaining that the idea of exploring the possibility of upgrading the level of representatives involved in these direct negotiations was discussed.
Russia and Ukraine have conducted three rounds of direct negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey, since May.
Ukraine has been calling for a summit between President Putin and President Zelensky, but Russia has not responded.
Advisor Ushakov added that President Trump and President Putin agreed to maintain contact on the Ukraine issue as well as other international and bilateral matters.
He mentioned that President Putin thanked President Trump for the progress made toward resolving the Ukraine crisis at the summit held in Alaska, U.S. on the 15th, and emphasized the importance of President Trump’s efforts for a long-term resolution of the Ukraine issue.