Putin, Trump discussed elevating Russia–Ukraine negotiations, Kremlin says

In a statement shared on the Kremlin’s official Telegram channel, Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov reported that Vladimir Putin spoke to Donald Trump by telephone after the U.S. president concluded his meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky and several European leaders at the White House. According to Ushakov, Putin and Trump “discussed the idea that it would be worthwhile to explore the possibility of raising the level of representatives from the Ukrainian and Russian sides — that is, those representatives who participate in the ongoing direct negotiations.” The two presidents also reportedly agreed to “maintain close contact with each other on Ukrainian and other pressing issues of the international and bilateral agenda.” The conversation was “candid and quite constructive in nature,” Ushakov said.

In a post on social media, President Trump described Monday’s phone call as “the beginning of arrangements for a meeting” between Putin and Zelensky, to be followed by a “Trilat” meeting that includes Trump himself. 

Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s longtime foreign policy aide and former ambassador to the United States, frequently serves as the Kremlin’s primary spokesman for major diplomatic initiatives. The reported phone call comes amid intensified diplomatic efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict, with Trump having previously indicated his intention to broker a peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv. Since Moscow’s full-scale invasion, President Zelensky has sought a meeting with Putin, but the Russian president has dismissed Zelensky as an illegitimate leader.