Trump phones Putin in middle of White House talks with Zelenskyy, EU leaders

The Kremlin confirmed that US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a 40-minute phone call in the middle of the talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House.

Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov described the conversation as “frank” and “fairly constructive,” adding that the two leaders discussed “the idea of exploring the possibility of raising the level of representatives of Moscow and Kyiv at the talks,” Caliber.Az reports via BBC. 

This carefully worded statement contrasted with Trump’s more assertive remarks, in which he announced that he had begun discussing with Putin preparations for a bilateral Russia-Ukraine presidential meeting, followed by a possible trilateral summit with Zelenskyy.

So far this year, Russia and Ukraine have held three rounds of negotiations in Istanbul, led by Vladimir Medinsky for Moscow and former defence minister Rustem Umerov for Kyiv. The talks have produced agreements only on humanitarian issues, such as prisoner exchanges, without moving closer to ending the war.

It remains unclear what the Kremlin means by “raising the level of representatives.” Analysts suggest the wording may indicate that Putin is reluctant to commit to an immediate summit with Trump and Zelenskyy, preferring instead to continue contacts at a lower level until Moscow decides whether the Russian president himself should participate in future talks.

By Sabina Mammadli