Kremlin hints at additional Putin-Trump talks While Trump describes rational talks with Putin  

Press Secretary of Russian president Dmitry Peskov has suggested that there may have been additional talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in recent months beyond what has been publicly acknowledged. 

In an interview with Pavel Zarubin, journalist for the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, Peskov explained that while certain conversations have been disclosed, there may be others that have not been officially revealed, Caliber.Az reports per Russian media. 

“We are informing you about the conversations we know of, but we cannot rule out anything beyond that,” Peskov said.

When asked about the possibility of a future meeting between the two leaders, Peskov stressed the need for careful preparation. He noted that such a meeting would require in-depth technical discussions before it could take place. "It is clear that this meeting must be properly prepared, and first, we need to conduct complex technical negotiations," Peskov emphasised. "On Monday [March 24], our negotiators will head to Riyadh to begin this challenging process."

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump spoke about his relationship with President Putin in a recent interview with Outkick journalist Clay Travis. Trump described his conversations with the Russian leader as "rational" and emphasised that, despite media reports, their interactions did not lead to major conflicts.

"So, I know him very well," Trump said in the interview. "It's amazing that we didn't get into any major skirmishes because of the ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ hoax." 

Clay Travis pointed out that Putin did not invade Ukraine during Trump’s presidency, a remark Trump acknowledged, adding that Russian military action in Georgia and Crimea occurred under previous US administrations.

"He didn't invade anything when I was president," Trump said, referring to Putin’s actions. "I don't think there's anybody in the world that's going to stop [Putin], except me, and I think I'm going to be able to stop him."

Trump continued to emphasise his desire to end the ongoing conflict, noting the significant loss of life on both sides of the war.

"We've had some very rational discussions, and I just want to see the people stop getting killed. They're losing 2,500 young kids a week, and they're Russian and they're Ukrainian." 

Trump also expressed his good relationships with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, claiming that his involvement could help bring an end to the war.

"It'd be a great thing to be able to stop it. And I will say this, nobody else would have been able to," he added.

By Naila Huseynova