• Newly elected President Donald Trump held a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin on Thursday.
• Trump also had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
• In July 2023, Trump said he could stop the war in Ukraine within 24 hours.

President-elect Donald Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call last week not to escalate the war in Ukraine, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.

The call on Thursday marks the first time the pair are known to have spoken since Trump won the election.

Trump and Putin discussed resolving the war in Ukraine and achieving peace in Europe during their call, The Post reported, citing several people familiar with the matter.

Trump also expressed interest in further talks to discuss “a solution to the war in Ukraine soon,” according to The Post.

When asked for comment, a Trump campaign spokesman told Reuters that they “do not comment on private conversations between President Trump and other world leaders.”

Representatives for Trump and the Russian Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Trump’s phone call with Putin took place a day after he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The president-elect took the call with Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday.

“We agreed to maintain a close dialogue and further our cooperation. Strong and steadfast American leadership is essential for the world and for a just peace,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.

Trump’s big war promises in Ukraine

In July 2023, Trump told Fox News that if elected, he planned to end the war between Russia and Ukraine within 24 hours.

“I would tell Zelenskyy, no more. You have to make a deal. I would say to Putin: if you don’t make a deal, we are going to give him a lot. We are going to give more than ever before.” get it if we have to,” Trump said.

“I will close the deal in one day. One day,” he added.

Both Ukraine and Russia were dismissive of Trump’s proposal at the time. Zelenskyy told ABC News that he thought Trump’s proposal was a “nice” idea but was not based on “real experiences.” And Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said the war “cannot be solved in one day.”

That lukewarm response from both countries did not stop Trump from making more campaign promises about a quick end to the war in Ukraine.

In June, Trump said at a campaign rally in Detroit that he would settle the war in Ukraine “before assuming the White House as president-elect.” Trump also criticized Zelenskyy at that meeting, calling the Ukrainian leader “perhaps the greatest salesman of any politician who ever lived.”

“Every time he comes to our country, he walks away with $60 billion,” Trump said at the meeting.

“He just left four days ago with $60 billion, and he comes home and announces he needs another $60 billion. It never ends,” Trump added.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022, the US has funneled more than $64 billion in military aid to Ukraine.