Kremlin Says Putin Ready to Continue Dialogue with Trump
Istanbul (ANTARA) - The Kremlin stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin remains open to dialogue with United States (US) President Donald Trump, even though telephone talks expected to take place between the two have not yet happened.
“Mr Trump appears to be very busy after the whole series of meetings in Ankara, so no one called yesterday,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists at a press conference on Thursday.
Peskov was referring to Trump’s agenda in Ankara, Turkiye, where he attended the 36th North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Summit.
Following a telephone conversation between the two leaders last weekend, the Kremlin said on Monday (6/7) that Putin and Trump understood that communication between them would resume in the near future.
Peskov said that although the phone call had not yet taken place, Putin is “always pleased” to speak with Trump. According to him, the two leaders have a “genuinely constructive dialogue, despite a number of differences of view.”
“President Putin is open to dialogue,” Peskov said.
The statement came a day after Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several other world leaders on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Ankara.
At that meeting, Trump said that both Putin and Zelenskyy want to end the Russia-Ukraine war. He also stated that the US is ready to “close the skies” over Ukraine as part of security guarantees for Kyiv, should such a step be deemed necessary.
Trump added that one of the issues discussed with Zelenskyy was granting Ukraine a licence to produce Patriot missiles.
“That way you cannot complain that we are not giving enough help,” Trump said.
In response, Peskov said that Washington continues to supply weapons and military technology to Ukraine, and Moscow knows this to be true, so it does not view the situation with excessive optimism.
However, he judged that the US remains committed to trying to facilitate the peace process.
“Unlike other countries involved in this conflict, the US remains committed and continues to try to facilitate the peace process. It is from that perspective that we assess every statement,” Peskov said.
He also noted that there is a “certain duality” in the US stance towards Ukraine.
Peskov denied that Trump’s remarks in Ankara indicated that the US was returning to a path of escalation against Russia. According to him, Moscow sees a “certain misunderstanding” in the White House regarding the assumption that a resolution to the Ukraine conflict can be achieved through escalation and military pressure.
He said that the US readiness to “close the skies” over Ukraine indicates NATO involvement in the territory of that country. According to Peskov, this is one of the reasons Russia continues its “special military operation”, the term Moscow uses to describe the war in Ukraine.
Peskov also warned that “further escalation” could prolong the conflict in Ukraine and force Russia to establish a “wider buffer zone”.
“Therefore, rising tensions and various escalatory actions will not contribute to the peace process at all,” he said.