President Donald Trump Has an appeal with Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday morning, marking the first known conversation between the presidents since Trump took office last month. It came one day after Russia released an American imprisoned in the country.
Trump administration officials said they hoped for the exchange could take renewed efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, which is about to enter its fourth year.
In a reading of the conversation published on Truth Social, Trump said: “We have discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar and various other subjects. »»
Trump for weeks, reported his desire to speak with Putin while working to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.
“A single can change the course of history,” said Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of Russian Direct Investment Fund and a close ally of Putin, told Matthew Chance de CNN.
“Today, the leaders of the United States and Russia may have opened a door to a future shaped by cooperation, not on confrontation,” said Dmitriev.
Dmitriev had met an American special envoy in the Middle East Steve Witkoff on the ground during his efforts to return the American professor in detained Marc Fogel of Russia, sources with an knowledge of this exchange said
Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, had not spoken to his Russian counterpart for almost three years.
The Wednesday call lasted almost 90 minutes, said the Kremlin. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists that the two leaders had discussed the exchange of Russian and American citizens “among other subjects”. He called “fairly positive and constructive” conversation.
Fred Pleitgen de CNN,, Anna Chernova, Christian Edwards, Matthew Chance and Michael Rios contributed to report to this post.
This message has been updated with additional reports on the call and with comments from the Kremlin.