Trump told Putin in phone call not to escalate Ukraine war: report

• President-elect Donald Trump had a phone call with Vladimir Putin on Thursday.
• Trump also had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
• In July 2023, Trump said he could end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.

President-elect Donald Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call last week not to escalate the war in Ukraine, the Washington Post reported Sunday.

Thursday’s phone call is known to be the first time the couple has spoken since Trump’s election victory.

Trump and Putin discussed resolving the war in Ukraine and achieving peace in Europe during their phone call, The Post reported, citing several people familiar with the matter.

According to The Post, Trump also expressed interest in follow-up talks to discuss “the early resolution of the Ukraine war.”

When asked for comment, a Trump campaign spokesman told Reuters that they “do not comment on private conversations between President Trump and other world leaders.”

Representatives for Trump and the Russian Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Trump’s phone call with Putin came a day after his conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The president-elect accepted the interview with Zelensky on Wednesday at Mar-a-Lago.

“We agreed to maintain close dialogue and advance our cooperation. Strong and unwavering U.S. leadership is critical to the world and a just peace,” Zelensky wrote on X.

Trump’s big war promises for Ukraine

In July 2023, Trump told Fox News that if elected, he intended to end the war between Russia and Ukraine within 24 hours.

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“I wouldn’t say anything more to Zelensky. You have to make a deal. I would say to Putin: If you don’t make a deal, we will give him a lot. “We will give more than ever before if we have to,” Trump said.

“I will close the deal in a day. One day,” he added.

At the time, both Ukraine and Russia rejected Trump’s proposal. Zelensky told ABC News he thinks Trump’s proposal is a “nice” idea but is not based on “real experience.” And Russia’s UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said the war “cannot be solved in one day.”

However, this muted reaction from both countries did not stop Trump from making further promises during the election campaign to quickly end the war in Ukraine.

In June, Trump said at a campaign rally in Detroit that he wanted to “settle the Ukraine war before he takes over the White House as president-elect.” Trump also criticized Zelensky during that rally, calling the Ukrainian leader “perhaps the greatest salesman of any politician who has ever lived.”

“Every time he comes to our country, he takes $60 billion,” Trump said at the rally.

“He left just four days ago with $60 billion, comes home and announces he needs another $60 billion. It never ends,” Trump added.

Since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, the United States has provided more than $64 billion in military aid to Ukraine.