U.S. President Donald Trump posted late this morning on Truth Social the news that he had spoken by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin for an hour and a quarter. The message reads as follows:
“I just finished speaking, by telephone, with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia. The call lasted approximately one hour and 15 minutes. We discussed the attack on Russia’s docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides. It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace. President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields. We also discussed Iran, and the fact that time is running out on Iran’s decision pertaining to nuclear weapons, which must be made quickly! I stated to President Putin that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and, on this, I believe that we were in agreement. President Putin suggested that he will participate in the discussions with Iran and that he could, perhaps, be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion. It is my opinion that Iran has been slow walking their decision on this very important matter, and we will need a definitive answer in a very short period of time!”
Prior to his conversation with Trump, Putin had held a meeting with government members, in which he received reports on the Ukrainian attacks on Russia and the Istanbul talks, and harshly denounced the Ukrainian actions that caused train wrecks in Russia with civilian deaths, as “terrorism.”
Regarding the airbase drone attacks, TASS reported that Presidential aide Yury Ushakov briefed the press after the call Trump had “categorically emphasized that the American side had not been informed about this in advance by the Ukrainian relevant authorities.” He added that Putin had informed Trump in detail about the Ukrainian attacks, and that it had been “valuable” for Trump to hear this information. Asked for further specifics on how Russia planned to respond to the Ukrainian drone attacks, Ushakov said, according to TASS: “This topic was indeed discussed. I’ve already said what I could on this topic.”
Ushakov also reported that Putin, in speaking to Trump, had characterized the train bridge bombings as an attempt to sabotage the June 2 Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul. “Ukraine attempted to disrupt these talks, as it was stressed, by the direct instruction of the Kiev regime, [making] deliberate attacks against purely civilian targets, the civilian population,” Ushakov said. He underscored that according to international law, “these crimes are qualified as terrorism. From our point of view, the Kiev regime essentially degraded [itself] to a terrorist organization.”
Ushakov concluded that the Putin-Trump conversation had been productive and quite positive, and added that the two leaders had agreed to stay in constant contact.
