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Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, Vladimir Putin, World News
Callum Jones
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, Vladimir Putin, World News
Vladimir Putin has shared a surprising detail about his relationship with Donald Trump after the two leaders met in Alaska last month.
Trump and Putin met face-to-face to discuss the potential for an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, and while no agreement was reached, Trump left the meeting insisting that 'we have a very good chance of getting there'.
The Republican president met with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a few days after, as he attempts to bring a ceasefire and long-lasting peace in Ukraine.
Trump has previously said Putin would face a 'rough situation' if he did not co-operate in the peace process, and added that Zelenskyy would have to 'show some flexibility'.
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"I hope President Putin is going to be good and if he’s not, that’s going to be a rough situation," Trump told Fox News. "And I hope that Zelenskyy, President Zelenskyy, will do what he has to do. He has to show some flexibility."
While Trump has yet to bring an end to the war, he is seemingly in regular contact with the Russian president - something which has been confirmed in the Russian media.
News agency Tass say Putin has an agreement with Trump to speak over the phone whenever it is needed.
"President [of the United States Donald] Trump and I have an open dialogue, there is an agreement that, if necessary, we can call, contact, and talk to each other. He knows that I'm open to these conversations. And so is he, I know that," Putin said on Friday (September 5).
There are growing fears World War III could happen sometime in the future, with a new YouGov survey conducted in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain finding between 41 percent and 55 percent believe another world war could happen in the next five-ten years.
45 percent of Americans share this same view.
Hospitals across France were reportedly instructed to brace for a possible 'major military deployment' by March 2026, while Germany said it is on alert for military drills earlier this week.
Putin however dismissed any worries as he spoke alongside the Slovakian prime minister, Robert Fico, earlier this week.
The Russian president said that it was 'absolute nonsense' there are plans in Moscow to strike deeper in Europe and to target NATO, slamming the response from the EU as 'hysteria' based on 'horror stories'.
"As for ‘Russia’s aggressive plans with respect to Europe’, I want to emphasise once again that this is complete nonsense, which has absolutely no basis," he said.
"Any sensible person realizes that Russia has never had, does not have, and will not have the desire to attack anyone."