Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are holding a high-stakes call to discuss bringing an end to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, with the US president claiming that “many elements” of a peace deal have already been agreed.
The White House said the call began at 2pm GMT and is “going well.” It is part of intense diplomatic efforts to halt the war.
Mr Trump has talked up the prospects of an agreement in posts on his Truth Social platform, while the White House issued a statement saying that peace has “never been closer.”
The call was due to start at 1pm GMT but Putin was speaking to oligarchs at a business conference in Moscow until 1.52 pm. When asked by former economy minister Alexander Shokhin if he was going to be late, Putin joked that it wasn’t worth listening to his press spokesperson, who announced the timings of the call this morning. The audience laughed as he made these comments.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed his scepticism that Russia was doing little more than paying lip service to Washington in his nightly address to the nation on Monday.
Mapped: US considers recognising Crimea as Russian
Trump-Putin call ends
A phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has ended.
It lasted more than an hour and a half, it has been reported.
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Trump-Putin chat going well, says White House
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin started their conversation at 2pm GMT, the White House announced.
Dan Scavino, the deputy chief of staff, said the converstion was “going well”.
Is Putin making Trump wait? It is a tactic beloved by the Russian leader
Vladimir Putin was due to speak to Donald Trump between 1 pm and 3 pm GMT today.
But the Russian leader was busy addressing oligarchs at a business conference until 1.52 pm, when he eventually left the venue. He had been talking about how Western sanctions would continue to try to exclude Russia from the global economy.
There has still not been any announcement about a call with Trump.
Pressed by former economy minister Alexander Shokhin just after 1 pm whether he would be late for the call with Trump, Putin joked that it was better not to listen to his spokesperson, who had announced the call timings earlier.
Putin does have a history of making leaders wait.
Last Thursday, US envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly arrived in Moscow shortly after noon but only met with Putin late in the evening.
Is this happening to Trump?
Just before 2.30 pm today, English-language state media site Russia Today joked that Putin cut his talk short because Trump was pestering him.
Could this be what Putin was trying to suggest by delaying the call? Autocrats are known for making people wait. Putin is no exception.
Mapped: Russia pushing Ukraine out of Kursk
As we wait for information on Donald Trump’s call with Vladimir Putin, we remind you that Russia is continuing to push Ukrainian forces out of the border region of Kursk.
In less than a fortnight, Ukraine’s partial hold on the region has been reduced to less than 10 per cent of its peak last October.
Russia had been making gains over the past few months but started making serious inroads after cutting off Ukraine’s last supply line a few days into the start of March.
Ukraine’s partial control of Kursk could have proved a key bargaining chip for Kyiv in peace talks with Russia.
Source: independent.co.uk