Trump and Putin talk for nearly an hour - "Perhaps with a few good jokes at the expense of world order"

Washington/Moscow – US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation lasting about an hour on July 3. This was confirmed by Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov to the Russian news agency TASS. According to Ushakov, Trump raised the possibility of a swift end to the fighting between Russia and Ukraine. Putin’s response was predictably cool: Russia would not back down from its goals – the "causes of the conflict" must be eliminated, as the Kremlin cynically phrased it. According to Moscow, the ongoing negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul are to remain strictly bilateral. An expansion or even inclusion of the US is not planned, according to Ushakov. A possible face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin was also "not part" of the conversation.

Surprisingly precise was the clarification that Putin did not discuss with Trump a potential halt to American arms deliveries to Kyiv, nor specific dates for the third round of negotiations in Istanbul. Both topics were – at least officially – not on the agenda. Instead, the situation in the Middle East was also discussed. According to the Kremlin, Putin "emphasized the importance of diplomatic solutions" – a remarkable statement given his aggressive policies in Ukraine and his close ties to the regimes in Tehran and Damascus. Another episode of the conversation caused surprise: Putin congratulated Trump in advance on US Independence Day on July 4 – and reportedly highlighted "Russia’s contribution to the formation of American statehood." A historical interpretation that is controversial even in Moscow and likely to provoke head-shaking in the West.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the conversation in the evening briefly but clearly. Putin and Trump had very few topics in common – they were "very different people." Behind the diplomatic tone was a clear message: Kyiv trusts neither Trump nor Putin – and probably not their alleged peace plans either. It is still unclear whether the phone call will have concrete political consequences. But one thing is already evident: the old triangle of Washington–Moscow–Kyiv is back. And at the center stand two men who often shape the course of the world according to their own logic.
Noch ist unklar, ob aus dem Telefonat konkrete politische Folgen erwachsen. Doch eines zeigt das Gespräch bereits jetzt: Das alte Dreieck Washington–Moskau–Kiew lebt wieder auf. Und im Zentrum stehen zwei Männer, die den Lauf der Welt nicht selten nach ihrer eigenen Logik formen.