The White House clarifies that Special Representative Vitkoff, not Trump, spoke to Putin

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, Finland, 16 July 2018, photo: AP/ ablo Martinez Monsivais

US President Donald Trump has posted that he had a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The White House clarified that it was Special Representative for the Middle East Steve Vitkoff, not the American leader, who spoke to him.

This was announced during a press conference by White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt.

She noted that the US President's post, in which he wrote: «I asked President Putin very much», caused confusion. It sounded like the conversation was between the two of them.

The official said that it was probably a conversation between Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin during the US official's visit to Moscow on 13 March. Russian media, citing Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, reported on their meeting and wrote that Vladimir Putin had passed information to Donald Trump through Steve Witkoff.

In the post, Donald Trump called the conversation «very good and productive», adding that «there is a very good chance that this terrible, bloody war can finally end».

Advertising

At the same time, Trump claimed that thousands of Ukrainian troops are now completely surrounded by the Russian army in the Kursk sector and «in a very bad and vulnerable situation».

«I have been urging President Putin to spare their lives. It would have been a terrible massacre, not seen since the Second World War. God bless them all!!!» he wrote.

US President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, held talks with Russian officials in Moscow. After the visit, he returned to the US to discuss the results of his meeting with Donald Trump.

As a reminder, Steve Witkoff's trip took place after the Ukrainian delegation met with US Secretary of State Mark Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Volz in Saudi Arabia. During the talks, Kyiv supported the idea of a temporary ceasefire.

US President Donald Trump said that a «semi-ceasefire had been reached in the war between Russia and Ukraine», and it was now important that Moscow agreed to it. Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that the 30-day ceasefire would only work if the Kremlin agrees.

Moscow says it is not yet ready «to get ahead of itself» on the issue of ending hostilities. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitrii Peskov, Putin's chief international policy adviser Yuri Ushakov and US National Security Adviser Mike Volz had a telephone conversation the day before. It is also reported that Vladimir Putin may hold an international phone call on the evening of 13 March.

At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that Vladimir Putin «is afraid to tell» US President Donald Trump directly that Russia wants to continue the war.