Trump urges Putin not to escalate war during phone call, reports say

Donald Trump held a phone conversation with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Thursday advising him not to escalate the war in Ukraine according to the Washington Post, citing well-placed sources.

The president-elect warned Putin of the America’s “sizeable military presence in Europe” as he urged restraint in the conflict, which is entering its third year.

The outlet added that Trump had expressed interest in a follow up conversation between the pair to resolve Ukraine’s war “soon.”

Trump has previously boasted on the campaign trail that he would end the war in Ukraine in “24 hours” — although has not provided concrete details how he would achieve this.

Putin congratulated Trump on his election victory in comments made last Thursday, going so far to praise Trump’s courage during an assassination attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania in July.

“He manifested himself in the very correct way, bravely as a man,” Putin said.

The Russian leader added he welcomed Trump’s claim he could end the war, but that he was not aware of what Trump’s concrete proposals were.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov emphasised that Moscow still views the US as an “unfriendly” country and that ties between Russia and the US were at their lowest point in history.

Trump is known to be friendly towards Putin. When he was elected in 2016, Moscow had hopes that Trump would scrap sanctions against the country.

Since then, Putin has repeatedly noted Trump’s first term saw the introduction of the heaviest sanctions against Russia at that time.

In a statement given to the Post, Trump’s spokesperson Steven Cheung said of the call between Putin and Trump: “President Trump won a historic election decisively and leaders from around the world know America will return to prominence on the world stage.”

Cheung added that world leaders had begun to try and develop relationships with Trump as he represents “global peace and stability.”

Kyiv disputes claim

The Washington Post claimed that Ukraine’s foreign ministry knew about the call and didn’t object to the conversation taking place, a claim Kyiv’s foreign ministry told Reuters was false.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy already spoke with Trump during a phone call on Wednesday.

Zelenskyy called Trump to congratulate him on his election victory. Although it isn’t known what the pair discussed, SpaceX owner Elon Musk reportedly took part in the call with Zelenskyy thanking him for providing Ukraine with access to the Starlink satellite internet platform.

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Trump’s election could signal a shift in US foreign policy towards Ukraine. The president-elect is wary of US involvement in foreign conflicts and has previously suggested the money would be better spent domestically.

Current US President Joe Biden is set to meet Trump at the Oval Office on Wednesday to discuss the transition of power, and brief the new president on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS, “President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to the Congress and to the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine, that walking away from Ukraine means more instability in Europe.”

Additional sources • AP