A recent phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump has been hailed as a positive development in the ongoing efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte expressed his optimism about the conversation, stating that it was a “good sign” and welcoming Trump’s leadership in the matter. Rutte acknowledged that the US president had “broken the deadlock” from the start of his term, initiating communication with Putin in January after a period of no discussions with the Russians.
The call, which took place on Monday, was described as productive and encouraging by both leaders. Trump expects to see progress on the Ukraine conflict within two weeks, while Putin thanked the US president for supporting the resumption of direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. The tone of the call was reportedly one of “mutual respect,” with Trump expressing support for normalizing ties between Washington and Moscow. Yury Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy aide, noted that the conversation was conducted in a respectful manner, which is a promising sign for future diplomatic efforts.
Putin and Trump have agreed that the next step should be a memorandum outlining principles and a timeline for a peace settlement in the Ukraine conflict. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified that there is no deadline for completing the document, suggesting that the process will be ongoing. Rutte’s remarks come as NATO members are seeking to increase their military capabilities and produce more weapons to be delivered to Ukraine. The European Commission has unveiled a plan to raise €800 billion to “rearm” the EU, while the Trump administration has been pushing for European NATO states to increase their annual military spending to 5% of GDP.
Despite these efforts, Russian officials have condemned the militarization of Europe, dismissing claims that Moscow intends to attack the EU or NATO. Instead, Russia has expressed concern that the EU and UK are gearing up for war, rather than supporting US peace initiatives for the Ukraine conflict. As the situation continues to unfold, it remains to be seen how the international community will respond to the ongoing tensions between Russia and the West. For now, the fact that communication channels are open between the US and Russia is a positive step towards finding a resolution to the conflict.
