President Donald Trump held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin after his envoys met with leaders in Moscow and Kiev. According to the Kremlin, Trump told Putin he wants to bring the war in Ukraine to a rapid end.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Trump told Putin he expects a swift end to the war in Ukraine. “Donald Trump clearly emphasized the desirability of bringing the conflict to an end as soon as possible, which would immediately open up prospects – impressive and far-reaching ones at that – for the full restoration of relations between the U.S. and Russia,” he said. “In his view, this would have a particular impact on trade and economic ties, promising enormous benefits for both countries. Donald Trump is keen to see a breakthrough achieved during his presidency. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin supported this approach.”
Over the weekend, envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner traveled to Moscow and Kiev to meet with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukrainian and Russian officials said the Americans presented new ideas for ending the conflict.
“As for the peace package that Kushner spoke of, and the new ideas – I can tell you that there were really some very decent, worthwhile ideas,” Zelenskiy said on Tuesday.
The call between Trump and Putin also followed Russia condemning a US long-range missile launcher deployment to Norway. The US moved a Containerized Launching System (CLS) to the Nordic country at the end of August. The CLS is a containerized derivative of the Mk-41 vertical launch system and is capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles.
On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed the CLS deployment. “We regard the deployment in Europe of US systems capable of launching intermediate- and shorter-range missiles as yet another step in the never-ending series of highly destabilizing actions by NATO countries,” she said. “Thus, these missile systems can be used in aggressive actions by NATO countries against our country to solve strategic problems.”
Ushakov said Putin told Trump during the phone call that Russia has no hostile intentions towards Europe. “In light of speculation regarding Russia’s alleged hostile intentions towards European states, it was emphasized that we have absolutely no aggressive plans whatsoever towards Europe,” he explained. “The myths being spread about the Russian threat merely serve as a pretext for Europeans to ramp up their support for Ukraine and their own military spending.”
