Aide to the President of Russia Yury Ushakov: Colleagues,
Today in the afternoon, Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation, the eighth one, with US President Donald Trump.
The conversation lasted almost two and a half hours. Clearly, it was a rather substantive and at the same time very open and frank exchange.
Our President started out by congratulating Donald Trump on his successful efforts to normalise the situation in the Gaza Strip. The US President’s peace work has been duly appreciated in the Middle East, in the United States itself, and in most countries around the world.
Naturally, the Russian side outlined its principled position in favour of a comprehensive Middle East settlement on a generally recognised international legal basis that would ensure lasting peace for all the peoples in that region.
A special emphasis during the conversation was placed on the Ukraine crisis. Vladimir Putin provided a detailed assessment of the current situation, stressing Russia’s interest in achieving a peaceful resolution through political and diplomatic methods.
In particular, it was noted that during the special military operation, the Russian Armed Forces hold full strategic initiative along the entire line of contact. Under these circumstances, the Kiev regime resorts to terrorist methods, attacking civilian targets and energy infrastructure facilities, to which we are forced to respond accordingly.
Donald Trump repeatedly emphasised the imperative of establishing peace in Ukraine at the earliest opportunity. The notion that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has proven the most intractable issue in all peacekeeping efforts of the US President was palpably evident throughout his remarks during the conversation. In this context, he naturally mentioned his successes in settling eight other regional conflicts.
It is noteworthy that one of the US President’s key arguments centred on the premise that the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine would open up tremendous – and he stressed this – tremendous prospects for the development of US-Russian economic cooperation.
Incidentally, both sides spoke of the profound mutual affinity between the peoples of the two countries, which was so vividly demonstrated during the Second World War. It was underscored that the current state of bilateral relations appears paradoxical against this backdrop.
The issue of potential supplies of long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine was also raised. Vladimir Putin reiterated his position that Tomahawks would not change the situation on the battlefield but would inflict substantial damage to relations between our countries, to say nothing of the prospects for a peaceful settlement.
In this context, it is worthy of note that the presidents discussed the possibility of holding another personal meeting. This is indeed a very significant development. It was agreed that representatives of both countries would immediately begin preparations for the summit, which could potentially be organised in Budapest, for instance.
On a separate note, it should be mentioned that our President highly praised personal efforts of the First Lady of the United States Melania Trump in reuniting Russian and Ukrainian children with their families and asked the US President to convey his very best wishes to his spouse.
Overall, I would say that the telephone contact between the presidents of Russia and the United States was quite useful, and the two leaders agreed to maintain contact.
Thank you for the attention.