Trump Talked to Putin, Told Russian Leader Not to Escalate in Ukraine

The Washington Post / Ellen Nakashima, John Hudson, Josh Dawsey

13:49 JST, November 11, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, the first phone conversation between the two men since Trump won the election, said several people familiar with the matter.

During the call, which Trump took from his resort in Florida, he advised the Russian president not to escalate the war in Ukraine and reminded him of Washington’s sizable military presence in Europe, said a person familiar with the call, who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.

The two men discussed the goal of peace on the European continent and Trump expressed an interest in follow-up conversations to discuss “the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon,” one of the people said.

In his presidential campaign, Trump said he would bring an immediate end to the war in Ukraine, though did not offer details about how he intended to do so. He has signaled privately that he would support a deal where Russia kept some captured territory, and during the call he briefly raised the issue of land, people familiar with the matter said.

The call, which has not been previously reported, comes amid general uncertainty about how Trump will reset the world’s diplomatic chessboard of U.S. allies and adversaries after his decisive victory on Tuesday. Trump told NBC on Thursday that he had spoken to about 70 world leaders since the election, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – a call that Elon Musk also joined.

Ukrainian officials have been informed of the Putin call and did not object to the conversation taking place, said two people familiar with the matter. Ukrainian officials have long understood that Trump would engage with Putin on a diplomatic solution to the war, the people said.

Trump’s initial calls with world leaders are not being conducted with the support of the State Department and U.S. government interpreters. The Trump transition team has yet to sign an agreement with the General Services Administration, a standard procedure for presidential transitions. Trump and his aides are distrustful of career government officials following the leaked transcripts of presidential calls during his first term. “They are just calling [Trump] directly,” one of the people familiar with the calls said.

“President Trump won a historic election decisively and leaders from around the world know America will return to prominence on the world stage. That is why leaders have begun the process of developing stronger relationships with the 45th and 47th President because he represents global peace and stability,” said Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, in an email.

Moscow initially responded coolly to Trump’s win, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters that Putin had no plans to call the incoming president of “an unfriendly country that is directly and indirectly involved in a war against our state.”

But on Thursday, Putin publicly congratulated Trump on his victory, praising his “manly” response to the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, and said he was “ready” to speak with Trump.

Peskov did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier Sunday, a journalist with the Russian state TV channel Rossiya, Pavel Zarubin, published an interview with Peskov in which the Kremlin spokesman said the signs for an improvement in relations under a Trump presidency were “positive.”

“Trump talked during his campaign about how he sees everything through deals, that he can make a deal that will lead everyone to peace. At least he talks about peace, not about confrontation and the desire to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia,” Peskov said.

While Biden and Harris’s strategy in relation to Ukraine was predictable, Peskov added, “Trump is less predictable, and also [it] is less predictable to what extent Trump will stick to the statements he made during the election campaign. Let’s wait and see.”

One former U.S. official who was familiar with the Putin call said that Trump likely does not want to enter office with a fresh crisis in Ukraine prompted by Russian escalation, “giving him incentive to want to keep the war from worsening.”

Trump’s call with Zelensky on Wednesday was amicable but comes as officials in Kyiv are anxious about what a Trump presidency might mean for the war effort, said people familiar with the call.

Ukraine requires billions of dollars in economic and military support every month to continue to fend off its bigger and better-equipped foe, which has made significant military advances in recent months. Trump has complained about the war’s cost to U.S. taxpayers and privately noted that Ukraine may have to give up some of its territory, such as Crimea, for peace.

Tensions between Ukraine and the Trump campaign were heightened following Zelensky’s visit to an ammunition plant in Pennsylvania in September. The visit to the swing state was criticized as a political stunt by Trump allies, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), who called for Zelensky to fire his ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova.

Zelensky is now reviewing candidates to replace her, said an official in Ukraine. The Ukrainian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

News of the call comes as Ukraine on Sunday launched a major drone attack on Moscow and five other Russian regions, injuring one person and forcing three airports to temporarily halt operations, officials in Moscow said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense systems intercepted 84 Ukrainian drones over the Moscow, Bryansk, Oryol, Kaluga, Kursk and Tula regions. Thirty-four of those drones were shot down over the Moscow region, the ministry said – making it the largest Ukrainian drone attack on the capital since Russia invaded the country more than two years ago.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is bracing to hold land it gained in Russia’s Kursk region amid reports that Moscow is preparing a counteroffensive. U.S. intelligence agencies have reported that there are now at least 10,000 North Korean troops in the Kursk region, which could be used to buoy the Russian attempt to retake lost territory.

Ukrainian commanders have told The Washington Post that North Korean troops are also in Russia’s neighboring Belgorod region.

While Trump has not spelled out a plan to end the war, he has said it would have benefited Ukraine to make a deal earlier in the war as the country continues to lose soldiers, civilians and infrastructure.

“Any deal – the worst deal – would’ve been better than what we have now,” Trump said during a speech in North Carolina in September. “If they made a bad deal it would’ve been much better. They would’ve given up a little bit and everybody would be living and every building would be built and every tower would be aging for another 2,000 years.”

“What deal can we make? It’s demolished,” he said. “The people are dead. The country is in rubble.”

A former U.S. official who was apprised of the call said that Trump likely does not want to enter office with a fresh crisis in Ukraine prompted by escalation by Russia, “giving him incentive to want to keep the war from worsening.”