Trump’s call with Putin may have been unpleasant for Kremlin leader — expert

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

“I think that Trump's phone call with Putin could have taken place, but not because it was some kind of planned, full-fledged step, because let's remember how Trump had previously seen the issue of Russia's war against Ukraine. The newly elected president said, “I'll call Zelenskyy, I'll call Putin, and we'll agree on everything.” And only after the election, in the first weeks of Trump's work, did we see a little more realism - statements that “it's not that simple” and that it would take at least six months to start negotiations,” the international expert commented.

According to him, there was recently information about a Russian federal plane that flew to Washington for one evening. There are also reports of U.S. contacts at various levels not only with Russians but also with the Ukrainian side.

“In fact, we have seen that Trump has become more active. And this leads me to believe that Trump's call to Putin may have taken place, but I am convinced that it did not bring the results that the Kremlin wanted. After all, Russian diplomats are the ones who will make an absolute victory out of any minimal success and how their “great leader” has “solved” everything.  But Peskov (Putin's press secretary - ed.) cannot even confirm the fact of this conversation, i.e. he is afraid to say what exactly the conversation was about. Therefore, in my opinion, it was unpleasant for Putin, and Trump still took a tougher stance, because otherwise the Russians would not have kept their mouths shut about this conversation,” said Kraiev.

• On February 9, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he had spoken to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin by phone to try to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin, however, could not confirm or deny this information.