British News Agency

Presidential aide Ushakov announced that a phone call took place between Putin and Trump.

According to Ushakov, the call was initiated by Trump, who wanted to discuss the current situation and possible solutions in the context of the conflict in Ukraine with the Russian president. He aimed to assess these issues ahead of his face-to-face meeting today with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

At the beginning of the call, which lasted about 1 hour and 15 minutes, the two leaders exchanged greetings on the occasion of Christmas and the New Year and wished happiness to the peoples of their countries.

The entire conversation took place in a friendly, constructive, and business-like atmosphere; both sides showed mutual interest in making progress toward a lasting and peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

Trump listened carefully to the Russian side’s assessments regarding the possibility of reaching an agreement under current conditions. Putin particularly emphasized the importance of the fundamental Russia–U.S. understandings reached, including during the Anchorage Summit and through numerous contacts between the two administrations.

The sides also agreed to establish two separate working groups to manage the process around Ukraine: one will deal with security issues, and the other with economic matters. Details on the launch of these groups are expected to be clarified in early January.

Putin and Trump also agreed to speak again by phone to assess the outcomes of the U.S. president’s meeting with the Ukrainian delegation later this evening at Mar-a-Lago.