Vladimir Putin displayed a “nervous tic” ahead of his phone call with Donald Trump, as the Kremlin leader kept the US President waiting for an hour for the call.
The Kremlin dictator’s feet danced more than usual as he sat on stage for the annual congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, including the country’s top bosses, in Moscow. A Ukrainian Telegram channel asked: “Putin dances to a Ukrainian song before talks with Trump – or is it a nervous tic?” The dictator, notorious for keeping world leaders waiting, also laughed off a warning he was leaving his phone call with Donald Trump too late.
As the clock ticked, he appeared in no rush to hot foot it to the Kremlin for the potentially crucial phone talk with the US president. The union’s leader Alexander Shokhin looked at his watch saying Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had announced the timing was before 6pm in Moscow. Reports in Russia had said the session would be between 4pm and 6pm – and it was already after 4pm. “Don’t listen to him! That’s his job,” replied Putin, showing no sign of wanting to leave.
“Well, I don’t know. Now we need to see what Trump says about this…,” said Shokhin, a former Putin deputy prime minister. “I didn’t mention Trump. I was talking about Peskov,” replied Putin, evidently relaxed at his lax timekeeping. Eventually the Putin entourage left the conference venue, the Moscow International House of Music, some 20 minutes drive from the Kremlin, at approaching 5pm.
The claim over Putin’s ‘nervous tic’ came from Ukraine Telegram channel Pravda Gerashchenko. Donald Trump yesterday said he was “very much” looking forward to his chat with Putin as “thousands of young soldiers” are being killed weekly – and despite there being no concrete peace deal in place, the war “must end now.”
He wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Tomorrow morning I will be speaking to President Putin concerning the War in Ukraine. Many elements of a Final Agreement have been agreed to, but much remains. Thousands of young soldiers, and others, are being killed. Each week brings 2,500 soldier deaths, from both sides, and it must end NOW. I look very much forward to the call with President Putin.”
Trump has been trying to win Putin’s support for the 30-day ceasefire proposal, with both sides trading heavy aerial strikes early on Monday and Russia moving closer to ejecting Ukrainian forces from Kursk. Putin said he supported the idea, but added there are still “nuances” to be worked out.
According to the White House, Trump is set to discuss land, power plants, and “dividing up certain assets” with the Russian President.
“I’ll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work’s been done over the weekend,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One during a flight back to the Washington area from Florida. “We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance,” Trump said.
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