Trump urges Putin to avoid escalation in Ukraine conflict

United States President-elect Donald Trump reportedly spoke to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, urging him to avoid escalating the conflict in Ukraine, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.

Trump held the call from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Thursday, just days after his surprising election victory over Democratic rival Kamala Harris, the report said.

Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, did not confirm the exchange, telling AFP in a written statement, “We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders.”

The Post, citing several individuals familiar with the call who spoke on condition of anonymity, reported that Trump reminded Putin of America’s significant military presence in Europe and expressed interest in further discussions to achieve “a resolution of the war in Ukraine soon.”

Trump also spoke by phone with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday, and the pair “agreed to work together towards a return to peace in Europe,” according to Scholz’s spokesman.

Trump’s election is set to have a significant impact on the nearly three-year conflict in Ukraine, as he advocates for a swift end to the fighting and questions Washington’s multi-billion-dollar support for Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Trump on Wednesday, with billionaire Elon Musk also notably joining them on the call.

The outgoing Democratic administration of President Joe Biden has confirmed that it will send as much aid as possible to Ukraine before Trump’s inauguration on 20 January 2025.

On Sunday, Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, said the White House aims “to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position on the battlefield so that it is ultimately in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table.”

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This would include utilising the remaining $6 billion of funding available for Ukraine, Sullivan said.

‘Losing Your Allowance’

The Russian Government has responded cautiously yet positively to Trump’s return, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying on Sunday, “The signals are positive… At least he’s talking about peace, not confrontation.”

During his campaign, Trump repeatedly pledged to end the Ukraine war swiftly—even before taking office—without providing specifics.

Trump and his allies have criticised US funding for Ukraine, implying it supports a pro-war network of defence companies and foreign policy advocates.

Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., shared a video on Instagram showing Zelensky next to the president-elect with a caption reading, “POV (point of view): You’re 38 days from losing your allowance.”

A swift deal in Ukraine is expected to require Kyiv to cede some of the territory it has lost to Russian forces in Ukraine’s south and east.

Former Trump adviser Bryan Lanza told the BBC on Saturday that Ukraine should abandon any aspirations of reclaiming Crimea, which Russia occupied in 2014.

Kyiv, despite facing manpower challenges and uncertainty over U.S. support, has steadfastly opposed ceding territory. Its European allies, including Britain and France, are reportedly uneasy about any unilateral moves by Trump.

Zelensky has maintained that conceding land or meeting other Kremlin demands would only encourage Putin and lead to more aggression—a sentiment shared by many European allies.

Trump “briefly raised the issue of land” in his call with Putin, The Post reported, without further details.

In recent months, both sides in the conflict have taken steps that appear aimed at gaining leverage ahead of potential negotiations, with Ukraine reclaiming a portion of Russian-occupied territory and Moscow’s troops advancing in Ukraine.

This weekend saw the most extensive drone attacks from both sides. Russia launched 145 drones at Ukraine overnight, according to Zelensky, while Russia claimed it had downed 34 Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow on Sunday.

AFP