As of: November 11, 2024 10:58 a.m
During the election campaign, future US President Trump promised a quick end to the Ukraine war. Now, according to media reports, there was a phone call with Putin. But the Kremlin denies this.
Shortly after the US election, President-elect Donald Trump reportedly spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This is reported by several media outlets, including the Washington Post. As the newspaper reports, citing insiders, Trump is said to have warned Putin about an escalation in the Ukraine war.
The future US president is said to have reminded the Kremlin boss of the significant US military presence in Europe. Accordingly, both politicians expressed their interest in further talks to discuss an early “settlement of the Ukraine war”. In addition, the question of Ukraine’s future territorial structure was briefly addressed.
Kremlin denies phone call
There was initially no information from Trump himself about a possible conversation. His spokesman Steven Cheung did not want to confirm the reports when asked. He wrote to the AFP news agency that he “does not comment on private conversations between President Trump and other heads of state and government.”
Moscow denied the phone call. “This is completely untrue,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. “There was no conversation.” Peskov spoke of “pure fiction” and “false information.” There are still no “concrete plans” for contacts with Trump.
Trump wants to end the war quickly
Putin’s spokesman Peskov had previously spoken of “positive signals” from the future US president in an interview with Russian state media on Sunday. “He at least talks about peace and not about confrontation. He does not talk about his desire to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia – that distinguishes him from the current government,” Peskov said.
During the campaign, Trump said he would find a solution to end the war “within 24 hours.” However, he never explained how he planned to accomplish this. At the same time, Trump resolutely opposed the continued support of Ukraine with billions of dollars from the USA.
The quick solution promised by Trump could mean that Ukraine would have to cede part of its territory to Russia. Moscow even calls the cession of large areas of Ukraine to Russia a prerequisite for peace negotiations, but the government in Kiev has firmly rejected this.
Scholz: “Don’t do this alone”
Germany also wants to start talking to Russia again soon. Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that he would contact Putin “soon”. “Yes, I have decided to speak to the Russian President at the right time,” said the SPD politician in the ARD program “Caren Miosga“. “But I am a responsible politician, I do not do this alone,” he added.
Scholz further said that a conversation with Putin requires a lot of contacts and conversations with many others. The situation also needs to be discussed with Ukraine.
The Chancellor had already emphasized his willingness to talk to Putin about a just peace in Ukraine in mid-October. He last spoke to Putin by phone in December 2022. He had called for a diplomatic solution and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. In June, Scholz did not want to rule out a conversation with Putin in the future, but said at the time that a conversation only made sense if there was something concrete to discuss.
Trump and Scholz talk about “return of peace in Europe”
But Scholz has already taken up another thread of conversation. In a first phone call with Trump after his election as US President, the Chancellor expressed his willingness to “continue the decades-long successful cooperation between the governments of both countries,” according to government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. The two are also said to have agreed to “work together towards a return of peace in Europe.”
