According to Ushakov, Putin’s conversation with Trump took place at the initiative of the Russian side. This is their eighth telephone conversation, Putin’s aide said.
Ushakov said that Putin’s conversation with Trump lasted “almost two and a half hours.” She was “extremely frank and confidential” and “very informative.”
Putin told Trump that Russian occupation forces supposedly “have full control of the strategic initiative along the entire line of combat contact” in the war against Ukraine, Ushakov said. At the same time, the illegitimate Russian president complained about Ukraine’s attacks on “civilian targets and energy facilities” of the Russian Federation, to which Moscow “is forced to respond accordingly.”
Ushakov claims that Putin told Trump about the Russian Federation’s interest in “achieving a peaceful political and diplomatic solution” to the war in Ukraine. At the same time, Trump “repeatedly emphasized the need for an early establishment of peace in Ukraine” and called the conflict “the most difficult” to resolve in all his peacekeeping activities, Putin’s aide said.
According to Ushakov, Trump proposed holding a meeting in Budapest, and Putin supported this idea. Preparations for the summit will begin with a telephone conversation between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. As they work, it will probably become clearer “when it will be possible to organize the summit itself,” Ushakov added.
In addition, Putin discussed with Trump “the issue of possible supplies of Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine,” noted the assistant to the illegitimate Russian president. Putin believes that Tomahawks “will not change the situation on the battlefield,” but their supplies to Ukraine will cause “significant damage” to relations between the Russian Federation and the United States, “not to mention the prospects for a peaceful settlement,” Ushakov said.
According to him, Trump mentioned that during a meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on October 17 at the White House, he would “take into account the considerations” expressed by Putin in the conversation.
In addition, Putin “highly appreciated” the personal efforts of US First Lady Melania Trump to “reunite Russian and Ukrainian children with their families,” Ushakov said.
During the conversation, the illegitimate Russian president also congratulated Trump on the “success of his work to normalize the situation in the Gaza Strip” and outlined the Russian Federation’s “principled position” in favor of a “comprehensive Middle East settlement on a generally recognized international legal basis,” which would “guarantee sustainable peace to all peoples of the region,” Putin’s aide said.
Answering a question from Russian media, Ushakov said that Trump did not congratulate Putin on his past birthday (October 7), or on his past birthday.
“To be honest, it didn’t come to this,” Putin’s aide clarified. “It’s my birthday, no one raised this issue, this issue was not touched upon.”
