Aide to the President Yury Ushakov Ushakov YuryAide to the President : I would like to begin with some brief background and give you a glimpse behind the scenes of how the telephone conversation between the Presidents of Russia and the United States was arranged.

On the afternoon of October 7, we spoke by telephone with Special Envoy of the US President Steve Witkoff. He asked us to convey warm greetings and best wishes from US President Donald Trump to President Vladimir Putin. Steve Witkoff also asked us to pass on his own warmest wishes, as well as those of Jared Kushner, to our President, for whom he has sincere respect and whom he hopes to meet again soon.

Steve Witkoff also mentioned that the US President wished to congratulate Vladimir Putin personally by telephone. We therefore set about finding a suitable time in both presidents' schedules, taking into account, of course, the time difference between Moscow and Washington, as well as the fact that the Russian President was due to depart for Turkmenistan on the morning of October 8 to attend the CIS summit. Ultimately, we agreed that the best option would be to arrange the conversation immediately after our President returned from that trip.

President Trump rearranged some of his previously scheduled engagements for the day, and the telephone conversation took place late in the evening on October 9.

Naturally, Donald Trump began by extending warm birthday greetings to Vladimir Putin, wishing him success and wellbeing in an informal manner. He also conveyed greetings from his wife, Melania.

Vladimir Putin thanked his American counterpart for his wishes and kind words, stressing that we appreciate the attention the US President and his team devote to maintaining dialogue with Russia, despite their busy agenda involving domestic US affairs and developments in the Middle East.

As for the substance of the conversation, I am afraid I cannot fully satisfy your curiosity, colleagues, by revealing all the details of the specific issues discussed by the two presidents.

One noteworthy aspect of the conversation, however, which I would like to mention, was that our President expressed his gratitude to the US First Lady for her active humanitarian efforts, particularly her contribution to reuniting children with their families after they had been separated during the conflict in Ukraine.

To be continued.