NEW YORK, August 21. /TASS/. European leaders did not expect US President Donald Trump to call his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin immediately following a meeting with them in the White House on August 18, US Vice President JD Vance said in an interview with the Fox News TV channel.
"The president says: ‘You know, we've had a pretty good meeting. Call Vladimir Putin, see what he says about it.’ And everybody's like: ‘Oh, you're going to call him next week?’ And he's like, no, what time is it in Moscow? Let's call him right now," Vance noted. He emphasized that other participants of the meeting "had no anticipation" of this development.
"You had a lot of the Europeans who were saying, no, no, there needs to be proper vetting, and the teams have to prepare the phone call," Vance added. However, Trump disregarded these objections and immediately called the Russian leader.
Trump held a meeting with Vladimir Zelensky and several European leaders on resolving the Ukraine conflict in the White House on August 18. The talks involved Finnish President Alexander Stubb, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The White House hosted such a large number of top leaders simultaneously for the first time in history. This unprecedented lineup of participants, which underscores the importance of the issue under discussion, was also highlighted by the US president.
In addition, Trump held a phone call with Putin during the meeting. According to the US leader, they discussed, among other things, the prospects for a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, followed by trilateral talks. Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said that the leaders of Russia and the United States spoke in favor of continuing direct talks between Moscow and Kiev, including the possibility of elevating their level.