Trump advised Putin not to escalate Ukraine war in phone call, reports say

Trump said he would find a solution to end the war “within a day”, but did not provide any details as to how he would do it, ITV News’ Graham Stothard reports

Donald Trump has reportedly advised Russian President Vladimir Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine.

The president-elect reminded Putin of “Washington’s sizeable military presence in Europe”, according to reports on Sunday by the Washington Post, which cited people familiar with the matter.

The two men discussed the goal of peace in mainland Europe and Trump expressed an interest in follow-up conversations to discuss “the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon”, several of the people said, according to the newspaper.

During his election campaign, Trump said he would find a solution to end the war “within a day”, but did not provide any details as to how he would do it.

Putin congratulated Trump on his victory on Friday, calling him a “brave man”.

He said: “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States of America.”

“His behaviour at the moment of an attempt on his life left an impression on me. He turned out to be a brave man.”

Putin added that what Trump has said “about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to help end the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, deserves attention at least.”

The remarks came during an international forum conference in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Trump had also reportedly spoken to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier in the week when the Ukrainian leader phoned to congratulate him on the US Election results.

He reportedly put billionaire Elon Musk on the line, according to a Ukrainian official with direct knowledge of the phone call.

The person, who was not authorised to comment on the matter publicly, confirmed that Zelenskyy and Musk spoke during the call with Trump, but that Musk did not appear to be on the line for the entire conversation on Wednesday.

Trump seemingly handed his phone over to Musk, the person said, and the Ukrainian president thanked the SpaceX owner for assisting his country with access to the Starlink satellite internet platform.

Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he has spoken three times with Donald Trump since Tuesday’s election and they “see eye-to-eye regarding the Iranian threat and all of its components.”

Speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said: “These were very good and very important conversations, aimed at strengthening the solid alliance between Israel and the United States.”

He added: “We see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects and the danger it poses. We also see the great opportunities before Israel – in peace and expansion, and in other areas.”