Putin-Trump summit on the way – Kremlin

Putin-Trump summit on the way – Kremlin

RT

It is hard to overestimate the significance of the recent phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. He also noted that the presidents have instructed their teams to lay the groundwork for the summit.

The call on Wednesday marked the first known conversation between the US and Russian leaders since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. Trump has since signaled that he is “okay” with keeping Ukraine out of NATO and suggested that it is “unlikely” that Kiev could regain all of the territory it has lost to Russia over the past decade. Trump also noted that the presidents had exchanged invitations to visit each other’s countries.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Peskov described the phone call as “a very important conversation.” “Against the backdrop of what has been happening for several years, there have been no contacts at the highest level between Moscow and Washington,” he said, noting that this landscape did not contribute to solving the Ukraine crisis.

Unlike the administration of ex-US President Joe Biden, which believed that “everything must be done to ensure that the war continues,” the Trump team apparently “holds the view that everything must be done to stop the war and for peace to prevail,” Peskov said.

“We are much more impressed by the position of the current administration, and we are open to dialogue,” the spokesman stressed.

Peskov added that the leaders would remain in touch regarding a summit. “They will focus on a separate meeting; they also agreed that instructions would be immediately given to the relevant assistants so that they would begin the relevant work.”

At the same time, Peskov declined to reveal which side had initiated the engagement, while clarifying that there has been no agreement on whether Trump will come to Moscow to attend the Victory parade to celebrate the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany on May 9.

“Exchanging mutual invitations is one thing, but focusing on a separate bilateral meeting is a different process,” the spokesman noted.

Regarding a potential territory swap with Ukraine, Peskov cautioned against “getting ahead of ourselves.” “There is political will… to conduct a dialogue to reach a settlement… We need to wait for... at least the first results of the joint work.”

At the same time, Peskov would not confirm or deny Trump’s remarks that Saudi Arabia would host a summit between the two leaders. He also did not provide any timeline for a potential Trump-Putin meeting, or when Russian and American work groups could get down to negotiations. 

“There is definitely a need for such a [Trump-Putin] meeting to be held promptly. The heads of state have a lot to talk about... It is also impossible to speculate on any deadlines at this point, because the work will only begin these days.”