Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have held their first talks over the phone since August, the US president has confirmed.
Trump said he was having a “lengthy” phone call with his Russian counterpart, which takes place a day before he is due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.
Trump has taken a much tougher line towards Putin over the Ukraine war since a face-to-face summit in Alaska in August failed to produce a decisive breakthrough in attempts to broker a peace deal.
This week’s talks with Putin and Zelensky come as Trump weighs up whether to arm Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, which are capable of striking deep inside Russia.
Confirming the Putin call on Thursday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “I am speaking to President Putin now.
“The conversation is ongoing, a lengthy one, and I will report the contents, as will President Putin, at its conclusion.”
The Kremlin is yet to comment on the call.
Trump and Putin met in Alaska on 15 August, a summit the US president hoped would help convince the Russian president to enter comprehensive peace talks to end the Ukraine war. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The pair spoke again days later when Trump interrupted a meeting with Zelensky and European leaders to call Putin.
Since then, neither the White House or Kremlin have public confirmed any communications between the two.
During his presidential election campaign, Trump claimed he would be able to end the war in Ukraine within days but has since admitted resolving the conflict has been more challenging than any he has been involved in since returning to power.
Trump had been seen as more sympathetic to Russia than his predecessor Joe Biden, and strained relations with Zelensky came to a head on 28 February when he and Vice-President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian president in the Oval Office on live television.
But public relations with Zelensky have vastly improved in recent months.
In September, Trump signalled a major shift in his view of the conflict, saying he believed Kyiv could “win all of Ukraine back in its original form”, a far cry from his public calls for Kyiv to cede territory occupied by Russia.
During Zelensky’s upcoming visit to Washington on Friday, his third since January, the subject of Tomahawk missiles is likely to be high on the agenda.
Zelensky has called on the US to provide Ukraine with the advanced missiles, which have a range of 2,500 km (1,500 miles).
Asked earlier this week if he was considering giving Ukraine the missiles, he said: “We’ll see… I may.”
By BBC News
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