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US President-elect Donald Trump stated that he has not yet spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but they will likely have a conversation soon. Earlier, Putin expressed his readiness to engage in talks with Trump.
In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Trump mentioned that he had likely communicated with around 70 world leaders since winning the election, though Putin was not one of them. However, he noted, “I think we’ll speak.”
At a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, approximately an hour earlier, Putin congratulated Trump on his victory and expressed openness to having a phone conversation with the president-elect. “I wouldn’t hesitate to call him personally,” Putin remarked.
During his campaign, Trump pledged to quickly resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict if elected, stating that he would engage in discussions with both Putin and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to reach this objective. However, he provided limited additional details. Moscow reacted cautiously; Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked last month that there is no “magic wand” capable of halting the fighting immediately.
Moscow asserts that a resolution can only commence if Ukraine halts its military activities and accepts the “territorial reality” that it will not regain control over Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, Zaporozhye, and Crimea. Furthermore, the Kremlin emphasizes that achieving their objectives of Ukrainian neutrality along with demilitarization and denazification is essential for any settlement to occur.
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Nevertheless, Putin stated on Thursday that he takes Trump’s statements seriously and believes his proposals to halt the conflict “deserve attention, at the very least.”
Putin and Trump held a meeting in Helsinki in 2018 and reconvened at the G-20 summit in Osaka the following year. During Trump’s first term, he faced widespread allegations of colluding with Russia to secure his 2016 election victory, accusations which were later proven false. He also received significant criticism from US media for engaging with Putin on these occasions.
“During his initial term, he faced widespread harassment and bullying from all directions. He feared making any misstep or saying the wrong thing,” Putin remarked. “I am uncertain about what will occur during this new presidency; it’s entirely his decision.”
In September, American journalist Bob Woodward alleged that Donald Trump had privately engaged in conversations with Vladimir Putin on seven occasions since his departure from office in 2021. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refuted the occurrence of any such calls, whereas Trump’s response was more noncommittal.
“I’m not commenting on that, but I will say it would be a smart move if I did,” he mentioned to Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait. “Being friendly and having relationships with people is beneficial for the country… after all, he’s got 2,000 nuclear weapons and we have the same.”
