Trump ‘used phone call to urge Putin not to escalate Ukraine war’

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin during the US president’s first term. He reportedly does not want to start his second with Russia escalating its war with Ukraine - Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Donald Trump has warned Vladimir Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine, according to reports.

The two men are said to have discussed how to return peace to Europe, during a post-election phone call, according to The Washington Post.

Mr Trump is said to have raised the issue of Ukrainian territory captured by Russia, although precisely what either man said is unclear.

He also reminded Putin that the US maintained a substantial military presence in Europe.

A former US official familiar with the call said Mr Trump likely did not want to enter office with Russia escalating the war, “giving him incentive to want to keep the war from worsening”.

Mr Trump is said to have told the Russian leader he was interested in future conversations to discuss “the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon”.

The Republican will have a warmer relation with Putin than Joe Biden, the US president, who has not spoken to his Russian counterpart since 2022.

The Ukrainian government had been informed of the Putin call and did not object to the conversation taking place, sources said.

Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed he would end the war in Ukraine “in a day”, but has provided little information on how he would achieve this.

At times, he has suggested that he would stop sending military aid to Kyiv, which would deal a serious blow to its war effort. Ukraine has received billions of dollars in military aid from Mr Biden’s administration.

Bryan Lanza, a Trump campaign official, signalled this weekend that Kyiv would likely have to give up territory in return for peace. “Crimea is gone,” he said, referring to the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.

However, a spokesman for Mr Trump pushed back on the suggestion, saying that Mr Lanza did not speak for the president-elect.

Putin had been reported as having privately congratulated Mr Trump on his election win, but the contents of their call had not been previously discussed.

The Russian leader praised Mr Trump as a “courageous man” following the attempts that were made on his life earlier this year.

“He turned out to be a courageous man… He behaved, in my opinion, in a very correct way, courageously, like a man,” he said on Thursday, referring to the shooting at Mr Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania in July.

“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, Mr Trump’s communications director, said in a statement.

“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.”

Earlier on Sunday, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said there were “positive” signs of an improvement in relations between the US and Russia.

“Trump talked during his campaign about how he sees everything through deals, that he can make a deal that will lead everyone to peace,” he said.

“At least he talks about peace, not about confrontation and the desire to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.”

Mr Trump also spoke on the phone with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday, Berlin saying they “agreed to work together towards a return to peace in Europe”.

“Both exchanged views on the German-American relationship and the current geopolitical challenges,” the chancellor’s spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, said in a brief statement.

“The chancellor underlined the government’s willingness to continue the decades-long successful cooperation between the governments of both countries.

“They also agreed to work together towards a return to peace in Europe.”