Kremlin Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov provided a long report on Vladimir Putin’s call with President Donald Trump on his 80th birthday today. Ushakov reported the call lasted “just under an hour—55 minutes to be precise,” and “was not merely an exchange of pleasantries.” He characterized it, in fact, as “friendly and candid.”
Topics included “key issues relating to the current international situation, the development of Russia-US relations, and possible future contacts between representatives of both sides.” On the latter front, Ushakov reported that they had agreed that Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, “who are currently deeply involved in Iranian affairs, will come to Russia again in the near future.”
The two “also touched on the situation surrounding the memorandum of understanding being drafted between the United States and Iran.” Here, Ushakov reported that Trump hoped “that the results of the difficult but ultimately successful negotiations” could be announced today. Trump “acknowledged that the road to agreement had been arduous, with many obstacles encountered—and not only from the Iranian leadership.” According to Ushakov, Trump also “expressed gratitude for Russia’s involvement and, in particular, for its proposals aimed at finding constructive solutions.”
Ushakov made clear that Putin understands that “root causes” of the conflict remain to be resolved. “For our part, we expressed satisfaction with the United States’ apparent ability to curb the conflict that may have set the entire region ablaze and even expand beyond the region,” Ushakov said, adding that “President Putin noted his readiness to keep working in favor of stabilizing the situation and handling deeply rooted issues that are still to be seriously addressed.”
Ukraine was discussed, as Trump “once again stressed the importance of ceasing hostilities” in that conflict, and “claimed [sic] that he is ready to influence both his European partners and Kiev, including during the upcoming contacts at the G7 summit” towards that. “The recent strikes targeting civilian facilities on Russian territory certainly complicate the resolution process, which was noted,” Ushakov added.
Putin, telling Trump that “no attempts by the Kiev regime to strike Russia’s civilian infrastructure can overturn the situation on the battlefield,” forewarned the US President that “the Europeans and Zelensky will try to paint the exact opposite picture and will only be able to propose ideas that drag out the conflict and prolong the hostilities.” He recommended that Zelensky “should be told that, instead of reburying Nazi criminals with honors, he’d better remember the tragedy of the Holocaust.”
Ushakov noted that “it is indicative that, responding to these words, Donald Trump spoke about the alliance between our two countries during World War II. He said that this alliance simply must not be forgotten.”
Otherwise, the conversation was “informal… and not without a touch of humor,” their greetings being “quite warm and reflective of the relations between the two presidents,” about which Ushakov gave more details. “Donald Trump was touched by the remarks and thanked Vladimir Putin, noting that he was the first foreign leader to call him at the White House.”
