Moscow. 19 May. INTERFAX - The presidents of Russia and the United States commented on the results of a telephone conversation on Monday: Vladimir Putin went to reporters in Sirius, and his American counterpart Donald Trump published a statement on the Truth Social network.
The conversation, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, lasted two hours and five minutes, began with Putin congratulating Trump on the birth of his next grandson and, in addition to the central topic of the Ukrainian settlement, included a discussion of bilateral economic relations, the prospects of which the American president emotionally described as "impressive."
Below are the full texts of Putin's and Trump's statements, as well as Ushakov's comments.
PUTIN'S STATEMENT
"My colleagues asked me to say a few words about the results of our telephone conversation with the President of the United States. Indeed, this conversation took place, lasted more than two hours. I would like to note that he was very informative and very frank. And in general, in my opinion, it is very useful in this regard.
First of all, I thanked the President of the United States for the support of the United States in resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on the possible conclusion of a peace agreement, on the resumption of negotiations that were interrupted by the Ukrainian side, as you know, back in 2022.
The President of the United States expressed his position on the cessation of hostilities and the truce, and for my part, I also noted that Russia supports a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. We just have to identify the most effective ways to move towards peace.
We have agreed with the President of the United States that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace treaty defining a number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement, and so on, including a possible ceasefire for a certain time if appropriate agreements are reached..
By the way, contacts between the participants of the meeting and negotiations in Istanbul have resumed, and this gives reason to believe that we are generally on the right track.
Once again, I want to emphasize that the conversation was very constructive, and I appreciate it highly. The question, of course, is for the Russian and Ukrainian sides to show maximum desire for peace and find compromises that would suit all parties.
At the same time, I would like to note that, on the whole, Russia's position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis.
If anything needs to be clarified, then Press Secretary Peskov and my assistant, Mr. Ushakov, will clarify some details of our talks with President Trump on the phone later."
TRUMP'S STATEMENT
"I have just completed a two-hour telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. I think the negotiations went very well. Russia and Ukraine will immediately begin negotiations to achieve a ceasefire and, more importantly, to end the war. The terms should be discussed during negotiations between the two sides. That's the only way it can be, because they know the details of the negotiations that no one else knows about.
The tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent. If that wasn't the case, I would have said it now, not later. Russia wants to conduct large-scale trade with the United States when this catastrophic "bloodbath" is over, and I agree with that. This is an incredible opportunity for Russia to create a huge number of jobs and attract capital. There is unlimited potential here. Similarly, Ukraine can benefit greatly from trade in the process of rebuilding its country.
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will begin immediately. I informed President Vladimir Zelensky, EC President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Finnish President Alexander Stubb about this during a conversation immediately after the conversation with President Putin. The Vatican, represented by the pontiff, stated that it would be extremely interested in holding talks. Let the process begin!"
USHAKOV'S COMMENTS
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Putin and Trump had agreed to continue contacts following a "sincere, frank, and confidential conversation."
"The presidents have agreed that they will call each other as needed," he told reporters.
"Trump said, 'Vladimir, you can pick up the phone at any time, and I'll be happy to answer, I'll be happy to talk to you,'" Ushakov added.
According to him, "this ending also characterizes the nature of the conversation that took place between the leaders." Putin and Trump called each other by their first names. "They called (each other) Donald and Vladimir," he said.
Putin and Trump discussed in detail the settlement in Ukraine. "The Ukrainian issue was discussed in great detail. There were a lot of nuances, including quite interesting ones," Ushakov said.
"Exchanges of prisoners between citizens of the two countries were mentioned. This is an important humanitarian action," Putin's aide said. According to him, several similar actions have been carried out in recent months. "The presidents noted that another exchange is currently being worked out - 9 for 9 people," Ushakov said.
At the same time, the presidents did not talk about the time frame for a possible future ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, he said. "No, they did not talk about it, although Trump, of course, emphasizes his interest in reaching an agreement as soon as possible," Ushakov said, answering the question whether the presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States spoke during a telephone conversation. There is talk of some kind of "deadline" for a possible future ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
The conversation was extremely confidential, neither side wanted to end it, Ushakov said.
"There were a lot of digressions (...), I will tell you that there are rarely conversations of such length when none of the presidents wanted to end the conversation, did not want to hang up, as they say," he said, adding that the phone conversation was conducted with a consistent translation, which also increased its duration.
"It was such a sincere, frank, confidential conversation, and there were many deviations from the main topics," the presidential aide said.
Putin expressed gratitude to Trump for his personal attention to the issue of the Ukrainian settlement, noting the positive role of the American administration in bringing Kiev back to the negotiating table, Ushakov said.
"Our president expressed gratitude to Trump for his personal attention to the Ukrainian settlement and his sincere desire to contribute to the cessation of hostilities and the establishment of a lasting long-term peace. On our part, the positive role of the president and representatives of the US administration was noted, which contributed to the fact that Kiev returned to the negotiating table," Ushakov added.
Trump said that he sees the prospects for bilateral relations between the United States and Russia after the Ukrainian settlement as impressive. "During the conversation, the presidents talked in detail about the future of our relations, and President Trump spoke quite emotionally about the prospects of these relations. He has repeatedly stressed that he stands for mutually respectful and mutually beneficial relations with Russia, given its role in the world and the place it occupies in the economy," Ushakov said.
"And he specifically stressed that the prospects for bilateral relations after the Ukrainian conflict is resolved look impressive," Ushakov said. According to him, Trump "sees Russia as one of America's most important trade and economic partners."
During the conversation, the US president mentioned the bill on new sanctions against the Russian Federation, but called himself a supporter of reaching agreements, Ushakov said.
"Trump mentioned that a bill on new sanctions is ready in the Senate in principle, but he himself is not a supporter of sanctions, but a supporter of reaching certain agreements," Ushakov answered the question whether the topic of lifting sanctions against Russia was discussed during the conversation between Putin and Trump.
According to him, the presidents are interested in holding a personal meeting, but it should be prepared.
