Cubitanow writing ~ Sunday, February 9, 2025
The president of the United States Donald Trump confirmed that he held a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, about the end of the war in Ukraine. This is the first direct communication between an American president and Putin since February 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.
Trump, who has promised to put an end to the conflict, told the New York Postin “wants people to stop dying” in Ukraine. However, he did not provide details about how many times he has spoken with the Russian leader or about the specific content of his conversations. The White House has not made comments about it.
Kremlin Dmitri Peskov spokesman said that “many different communications are emerging” and that these are carried out through several channels. He did not confirm or denied the call between Trump and Putin, pointing out that he might not be aware of all the information.
The conflict in Ukraine dates back to 2014, after the Maidan revolution that overthrew a proruso president and the annexation of Crimea by Russia.
In 2022, Putin sent thousands of troops to Ukraine in what he called a “special military operation”, claiming the need to protect the Russian speakers and counteract the threat of the possible membership of Ukraine in NATO.
Ukraine and its western allies, led by the United States, consider invasion as an imperialist act and have promised to defeat Russian forces.
Currently, Russia controls a significant part of the Ukrainian territory, equivalent to the size of Virginia’s state in the US and has shown rapid advances since the first days of the invasion. Trump has expressed his intention to meet with Putin to discuss the end of the conflict, although the date or place of said summit has not yet been officially announced. Russia has proposed that the meeting takes place in Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates.
The Russian president established in June his conditions for an immediate cessation of hostilities: Ukraine must give up his aspiration to join NATO and withdraw his troops from the four Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia. Reuters reported in November that Putin would be willing to discuss a peace agreement with Trump, but refuses to make significant territorial concessions.
The Kremlin has urged caution in the face of speculation about contacts between the Trump and Moscow team. Leonid Slutsky, head of the International Affairs Committee of the Russian Parliament, said that the preparations for a meeting were “in an advanced stage” and could be completed in February or March.
Putin’s last conversation with an American president was in February 2022, when he spoke for an hour with Joe Biden shortly before starting the invasion. According to the journalist Bob Woodward in his 2024 book ‘War’, Trump would have held up to seven direct conversations with Putin after leaving the White House in 2021.
Trump also mentioned that he will probably meet with the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, next week to address the end of the war. He claimed to have a specific plan to resolve the conflict, although he did not reveal details. “I’ve always had a good relationship with Putin,” Trump told New York Post.
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