Putin's aide Ushakov has made public the Russian version of the conversation between President Trump and Putin.
The conversation lasted nearly two and a half hours and "was very substantive and extremely frank and confidential," Ushakov said.
Particular emphasis was placed on the Ukrainian crisis: the Russian president assessed the situation and expressed Russia's interest in achieving a peaceful political and diplomatic settlement.
According to Ushakov, Putin noted that Russia holds the strategic initiative, while the Kiev regime resorts to terrorist methods, to which Russia is forced to respond.
Trump, in turn, repeatedly emphasized the need to quickly establish peace in Ukraine, Ushakov noted. The idea that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has proven to be the most difficult was evident throughout the conversation, the Russian presidential aide added.
The US President pointed out that ending the conflict would open up enormous prospects for cooperation.
The conversation also touched on the issue of possible supplies of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, Ushakov said. Putin reiterated that they would not change the situation on the battlefield, but would cause significant damage to relations between the two countries.
The heads of state also discussed the possibility of holding a new meeting, according to the Russian presidential aide. An agreement was reached that representatives of the two countries would immediately begin preparing for the meeting, which could take place, for example, in Budapest. The contact was "very useful," and the two leaders agreed to stay in touch, Ushakov added.
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Would love to wake up to news that we are getting Tomahawks to the Ukrainians (or to somebody in NATO who then sends a better-suited weapon to Ukraine), but...this feels like Putin bought Russia a lot of time.
On the flip side, Trump despises weakness, and Putin can't cover that up, no matter how much he butters up Trump.