Trump speaks to Putin, advises him not to escalate Ukraine war – report | US foreign policy

Donald Trump spoke by phone with Vladimir Putin on Thursday and discussed the war in Ukraine, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The US president-elect advised the Russian president not to escalate the war in Ukraine and reminded him of “Washington's significant military presence in Europe,” the Post reported.

It added that Trump had expressed interest in further discussions on “the early resolution of the Ukraine war.”

During the campaign, Trump said he would find a solution to end the war “within a day,” but did not explain how he would do so.

According to a former U.S. official familiar with the call who spoke to The Washington Post, Trump probably doesn't want to start his second term as president with an escalation in the Ukraine war, “which gives him an incentive to prevent the war from escalating.” to want”. “.

In a statement to the medium, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said: “President Trump decisively won a historic election and leaders from around the world know that America will regain prominence on the world stage.” For this reason, the World leaders have begun to build closer ties with the 45th and 47th presidents because they represent global peace and stability.”

According to media reports, Trump also spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.

Biden invited Trump to come to the Oval Office on Wednesday, and on Sunday national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden's main message would be his commitment to a peaceful transfer of power. He will also talk to Trump about what is happening in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

“President Biden will have an opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to Congress and the new administration that the United States should not withdraw from Ukraine because withdrawing from Ukraine means more instability in Europe,” Sullivan told CBS.

Washington has provided tens of billions of dollars in U.S. military and economic aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, funding that Trump has repeatedly criticized and rejected along with other Republican lawmakers.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry denied the claim in the Washington Post article, saying Kiev was informed of the call and did not object to the conversation. “Reports that the Ukrainian side was informed in advance about the alleged call are false. Subsequently, Ukraine could have neither approved nor rejected the call,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi told Reuters.

On Friday, the Kremlin said Putin was ready to discuss Ukraine with Trump, but that did not mean he was ready to change Moscow's demands.

On June 14, Putin laid out his conditions for an end to the war: Ukraine must abandon its NATO ambitions and withdraw all its troops from the entire territory of the four regions claimed by Russia.

Ukraine rejected this, saying it would amount to surrender and that Zelensky had presented a “victory plan” that included demands for additional military support from the West.

Also on Sunday, Trump spoke with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “The Chancellor emphasized the Federal Government's willingness to continue decades of successful cooperation between the governments of both countries. “They have also agreed to work together towards a return to peace in Europe,” said a federal government spokesman.

In a phone call last week with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Trump said the U.S. was interested in cooperating with Seoul in the shipbuilding industry, particularly naval shipbuilding, as well as “promoting real peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.” said the South Korean leader.

Trump's call to Putin comes just a day after Bryan Lanza, a senior Trump political adviser, told the BBC that Ukraine should focus on achieving peace rather than “a vision of victory.”

“If Zelensky says that we will just stop these fighting, there will only be peace as soon as Crimea is returned, then we have news for President Zelensky: Crimea is gone,” Lanza told the BBC.

After his comments, a Trump spokesman said Lanza was “a contractor for the campaign” and that he “does not work for or speak for President Trump.”