Donald Trump has instructed his aides to arrange a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin within a few days of taking office as U.S. president, CNN reported on Sunday evening.
According to CNN’s sources, the call is intended to lay the groundwork for a meeting in the coming months aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
Trump’s team reportedly began preparing for a meeting with Putin several weeks ago, though it remains unclear whether a date for the call has been set. Once Trump takes office, American and Russian officials are expected to begin formal preparations for an in-person meeting, CNN noted.
Mike Waltz, Trump’s nominee for national security advisor, declined to say whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would participate in the meeting. “We haven’t set the exact framework for it yet, we’re working on that,” Waltz said in an interview with ABC News on January 12.