Vance: European leaders did not expect Trump to contact Putin immediately after his meeting in Washington

SadaNews - U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance stated that European leaders did not expect President Donald Trump to contact his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin immediately after the White House meeting on August 18.

 

Describing the consultations, Vance added yesterday during an interview with Fox News: "The president said: It was a good meeting, I will call Vladimir Putin to see what he will say. Everyone asked: Are you going to call him next week? Trump replied: No. What time is it in Moscow? I will call him now."

According to the Vice President, the other participants in the meeting did not expect such a move from Trump.

Vance noted that many Europeans tried to convince Trump not to contact Putin immediately, pointing to the need for careful preparation for the call with Putin, but Trump did not listen to them and did not heed their arguments, calling his Russian counterpart right away.

Earlier, Axios reported, citing sources, that Trump spoke on the phone with Putin while representatives of European countries and Volodymyr Zelensky were at the White House. After the call, Trump stated that he had begun preparations for a meeting between the Russian president and Zelensky, which is expected to be followed by trilateral talks between Russia, the United States, and Ukraine.

Source: TASS