According to officials familiar with the situation, President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have scheduled a phone call on Saturday, which will be the first time the two leaders will have directly spoken since Trump’s inauguration.
There was no specific word on what the two will be discussing in the conversation, though both sides have expressed support for the idea of normalizing ties after years of tensions. The first phone call probably won’t aim to fully tackle such a dramatic shift, but may set the stage for direct meetings.
Russia is likely to take issue with US deployments of ground troops around Eastern Europe, as well as the sanctions imposed by the Obama Administration in its final weeks. It was initially expected Trump would remove those sanctions, though he’s since insisted he wants to condition that on Russia reaching a deal on nuclear disarmament.
Trump and Putin have never actually met face-to-face, and they’ve reportedly only spoken on the phone once, shortly after the November election. Allegations of Russia interfering with the US election have heavily politicized US-Russia relations under Trump.
I can forgive most things wrong -if not all- with Trump if he gets a nuclear disarmament deal with Russia.
Powerful, popular Presidents Putin & Trump will give peace a chance.
I quit reading after the word “popular”.
Great news.
This is supposed to be the best news since sliced bread.
And so far only three patsies that are buying into it bringing some hope?
Some people here at antiwar.com have staked their entire reputation as journalists on this development!
come on folks, we can do better than just 3.
Vlad: Hello Donald?
Hello Vlad, it’s going to be beautiful, it’s going to be very, very beautiful. It’s going to be very, very nice. Remember Vladddddd-d-d-d-sssss, it’s going to make America great again. I’m going to make everybody happy and it’s going to be wonderful, mark my wordsssssssisssss.
Vlad: I think you’ve got the wrong number.
What happens when Putin asks Trump to do something concrete to prove he’s serious? Is he going to spend all his political capital tamping down the howls of “appeasement”?
Here we go. Putin’s first chance to manipulate Trump into not blowing up the planet. Here’s hoping it goes well (but I wont hold my breath.) Good luck Vlad.