According to a report from The Washington Post, U.S. President-elect Trump (Trump) has had a phone call with Russian President Putin, discussing the Ukraine conflict.
The Washington Post cited sources on Sunday (November 10) saying that Trump and Putin had a phone call on November 7. Trump suggested to Putin not to escalate the conflict in Ukraine and reminded him of the “significant military presence of Washington in Europe”.
Reportedly, in response to allegations that Ukraine had prior knowledge of the call between Trump and Putin, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated: “Reports suggesting that Ukraine was aware of this call in advance are false. Therefore, Ukraine could neither agree nor oppose this phone call.”
During the election campaign, Trump had previously stated that he would find a solution to end the conflict “within one day” of taking office, but did not specify the exact approach.
Media reports indicate that following his victory in the election on Wednesday (November 6), Trump had his first call with Ukrainian President Zelensky.
Ukrainian senior officials confirmed on Friday that Trump expressed support for Ukraine and Musk also “briefly” participated in the call, promising to continue providing Starlink services to Ukraine.
In September of this year, Zelensky met with Trump in New York during the United Nations General Assembly, where they discussed the conflict with Russia and possible diplomatic pathways to end the war. Three sources familiar with the matter revealed that Trump told Zelensky that he would not abandon Ukraine but hoped to give diplomacy a chance.
According to one source, during that meeting Trump told Zelensky, “I guarantee you will be happy with me.”
The Kremlin stated last Friday that Putin is prepared to discuss the Ukraine issue with Trump, but this does not mean that he will change Moscow’s demands.
On June 14 this year, Putin laid out conditions to end the conflict – Ukraine must abandon its plans to join NATO and withdraw all troops from four regions that Russia claims sovereignty over.
Ukraine rejected this proposal, considering it tantamount to surrender. President Zelensky of Ukraine proposed a “Victory Plan”, which includes requesting additional military support from the West.
(This article is based on reports from Reuters)