Kremlin Signals Willingness for Putin–Trump Call Amidst UK tensions
The kremlin indicated on Wednesday evening that a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and former US President Donald Trump could be arranged ”promptly,” if deemed necessary. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov stated this to reporters when questioned about the current state of high-level Russian-US contacts.
Though, Peskov also noted that plans for a potential in-person summit between the two leaders are currently stalled.”But right now, the work that must precede the summit hasn’t been done,” he said. This follows the cancellation of a previously planned meeting between Putin and Trump,which was slated to take place in Budapest this autumn.
Sources reported in late October that the US cancelled the summit after receiving a memo from the Russian Foreign Ministry outlining conditions for ending the conflict in Ukraine. These conditions included a reduction of Ukraine’s armed forces, a prohibition on Kyiv joining NATO, and the legal annexation of Ukrainian territory.
This update regarding a potential call comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Russia and the United Kingdom. Earlier on Wednesday, British Defense Secretary John Healey reported that a Russian spy ship, the Yantar, used lasers to disrupt RAF pilots tracking its activity near UK waters.
Healey described the Yantar’s actions as “deeply perilous” and stated the goverment was taking the incident “extremely seriously.” The vessel was located north of Scotland and had entered UK waters for the second time this year in recent weeks.
In response, the Russian Embassy in Britain dismissed the claims, issuing a statement that read: “We have noticed the latest provocative statements made by the head of the British defence department, John Healey. This time, the reason was the activities of the Russian oceanographic research vessel ‘Yantar’ in international waters.”
The embassy continued, “The endless accusations and suspicions of the British leadership only raise a smile. The actions of our country do not affect the interests of the United Kingdom and are not aimed at undermining its security. We are not interested in British underwater communications.”
