View from Russia: Moscow celebrates Trump-Putin call as step towards normalising relations

Telegraph

13-02-2025

Donald Trump's phone call with Vladimir Putin has been hailed by politicians and commentators in Moscow as a success, and a step towards normalising relations between the two superpowers.
The leaders spoke for 90 minutes on Wednesday in a call the Kremlin described as 'very important', discussing a path to peace in the war in Ukraine.
Dmitriy Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said: 'The current (US) administration, as we understand it, holds the view that everything should be done to stop the war and achieve peace.'
Leonid Slutsky, the head of the international committee at the Russian State Duma, said the phone call 'has broken through the anti-Russian blockade of the West and launched the process of defrosting Russian-American contacts'.
It was noted that the two leaders had invited each other to visit their countries. However, they are more likely to meet in a third country, such as Saudi Arabia.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's powerful security council, argued the call proved that any Western hopes of defeating Russia would never be achieved.
'There is not and cannot be a main country and a senior ruler of the planet,' Medvedev said. 'This lesson should be learned by the arrogant American elites.'
Medvedev, the Kremlin's hawkish mouthpiece, blamed Joe Biden's administration for leading the world to the 'brink of apocalypse'.
It was the US who unilaterally decided to be the 'country-in-chief on our planet' and began a 'hybrid war against our people', he added.
'Impossible to bring us to our knees'
Medvedev, a former president of Russia, said none of the US leaders of the past tried to sanction Soviet leaders during crises and that they 'kept lines of communication open'.
He added: 'It is impossible to bring us to our knees. And the sooner our opponents realise this, the better.'
Vladimir Solovyov, Putin's chief propagandist on Russian TV, also celebrated the call during his show on Wednesday, saying it ended the 'narrative' about Russian isolation.
Opening the programme, Solovyov said Mr Trump did not mention anything about Russia being aggressive, provocative, or unjust. He added the US president did not mention 'anything scary or anything about military criminals', and that he spoke very respectfully and calmly.
Russia-US relations hit rock bottom in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine, and the US implemented economic and personal sanctions in response to Russia's actions. Mr Biden refused to talk with Putin, saying he had 'no good reason' to.
Peskov, however, noted that the Trump settlement's future is unclear unless the 'first results of the joint work' are seen.
On Thursday, Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia's foreign intelligence service, said the work would be continued at the level of the heads of the state agencies, including law enforcement and special services.
'The order has been given,' Naryshkin said.
'Goodwill' exchange of prisoners
On Wednesday, Russia released an American schoolteacher, Marc Fogel, who had spent three years in custody. The White House said that, in exchange, it would release Alexander Vinnik, a Russian Bitcoin criminal.
According to reports, the prisoner swap included three other people who Belarus must free.
It has been described by analysts as a goodwill gesture, laying the ground for cooperation.
The excitement in the parliament and the media was not shared by Mikhail Zvinchuk, a pro-war blogger known as Rybar, who is wanted in the US with a $10 million reward for his capture.
Zvinchuk pointed out that the sides' positions are different, and it is too early to be confident about the meeting between the leaders.
'The outcome of the possible negotiations will be determined by the sides' capabilities to continue the combat operations,' said Zvinchuk.