Kremlin reveals peculiar detail about Putin-Trump call — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has revealed some of the “technical nuances” of recent and past phone calls between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, which he said help reduce the chance of miscommunication.

In an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin published on Telegram on Sunday, Peskov said Putin does not fully rely on simultaneous interpretation during conversations with Trump, as the Russian leader is able to hear and understand the American president directly.

“The president first hears the voice of his counterpart – that is, he hears Trump’s voice – and then the interpreter translates it,” Peskov explained.

He noted that Putin understands English and is capable of following the conversation before the translation begins. “As you know, the president understands English himself, so he can immediately process some of the information,” Peskov added. He noted that the exchange takes longer due to the back-and-forth nature of interpretation.

The two leaders spoke for over two hours on May 19, with the Kremlin describing the exchange as “very useful.” The conversation followed direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine held in Istanbul – the first in-person negotiations between representatives from the two countries since 2022, when Kiev withdrew from a proposed peace deal that had already been agreed in principle. The latest round of Russia-Ukraine talks resulted in a proposal for the largest prisoner exchange to date.

According to Putin, the discussion with Trump on May 19 was “productive, substantive and quite candid,” with the primary focus on the Ukraine conflict. Speaking to reporters afterward, he said both sides had agreed that Moscow would draft a memorandum outlining the principles and timeline for a potential peace agreement. The proposed framework would also cover other matters, including “a potential temporary ceasefire, should the necessary agreements be reached.”

Trump said the call “went very well,” describing the tone and spirit of the conversation as “excellent.” On Sunday, however, the US leader stated he was “not happy with what Putin’s doing,” criticizing Moscow’s response to a week of sustained Ukrainian drone raids as completely unwarranted.

Moscow has consistently reaffirmed its commitment to a diplomatic resolution of the Ukraine conflict and has welcomed Washington’s involvement in advancing direct talks. Putin reiterated that Russia is ready to work with Kiev on drafting the document and emphasized that “eliminating the root causes” of the conflict “is what matters most to us.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry has described the surge in Ukrainian “terrorist” drone attacks on non-military targets as a deliberate attempt by Kiev’s “party of war” to sabotage the recently renewed direct peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev. Ukraine’s Western backers, “led by the UK, France, Germany, and the EU leadership,” are facilitating the attacks by supporting “Ukrainian Nazis,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.