Economist tells of fear in Kiev and EU after Putin and Trump talk

The telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump has overshadowed Ukrainian and European officials, instilling fear and trepidation in them. The British magazine The Economist wrote about this on February 12.

The authors emphasized, in Kiev and European capitals, even after Trump's first promises during the election campaign to quickly end the Ukrainian conflict, they feared that the American leadership would leave Ukraine without military and financial assistance.

"Their fear intensified on Feb. 12, when Mr. Trump spoke by phone with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, without agreeing on details with Ukraine in advance, and announced that cease-fire talks would begin "immediately." He later said he might meet Mr. Putin in person in Saudi Arabia," the article said.

The magazine noted that Trump is "actually beginning to normalize relations with Russian Federation without receiving tangible concessions in return," and against this backdrop, the future of Washington's support for Kiev is "murky."

"I think everything will be solved without Ukraine's participation. Ukraine is screwed. And Europe too, by the way," an unnamed Ukrainian official shared with the publication.

Sense of contact: Putin and Trump agree on diplomatic solution to Ukraine crisis

In an hour and a half, they also discussed prisoner exchanges, the situation in the Middle East and the Iran nuclear deal

The conversation between Trump and Putin took place on February 12. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the presidents discussed many topics, including the exchange of Russian and US citizens, the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict and the situation in the Middle East. The two presidents agreed that it is possible to achieve long-term peace in Ukraine only through peaceful negotiations.

Trump, in turn, shared that he is united with Putin in the opinion that Washington and Moscow will be able to benefit greatly from working together. The American leader called the conversation productive and expressed hope that the dialog on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict would be successful.