According to sources for The Washington Post, President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday and warned him not to escalate his war against Ukraine while stressing that the United States has forces in Europe.
Trump spoke to NBC on Thursday; the media outlet reported that Trump said he had spoken to about 70 world leaders since his election victory, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Putin congratulated Trump on his electoral victory on Thursday, saying, “His behavior at the moment of an attempt on his life left an impression on me. He turned out to be a brave man. … He manifested himself in the very correct way, bravely as a man.” He added that Trump’s statements “about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to help end the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, deserves attention at least.”
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“Trump’s initial calls with world leaders are not being conducted with the support of the State Department and U.S. government interpreters,” the Post complained, adding, “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.”
“President Trump won a historic election decisively and leaders from around the world know America will return to prominence on the world stage,” Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, stated. “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.”
“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,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated, calling Trump “less predictable” than President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and adding that it was “less predictable to what extent Trump will stick to the statements he made during the election campaign. Let’s wait and see.”
In September, speaking in North Carolina, Trump said of the Russia-Ukraine war, “Any deal — the worst deal — would’ve been better than what we have now. 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. The people are dead. The country is in rubble.”
