Japan appreciates the importance of a possible conversation between Putin and Trump

Japan considers important the likely telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump. This was announced on May 19 by the Secretary General of the government of the eastern country, Yoshimasa Hayashi, at a regular press conference.

"From the point of view of the situation in Ukraine, the dialogue between the United States and Russia, including this conversation, is very important, so we are following the situation with great attention," TASS quoted him as saying.

According to Hayashi, the Japanese government hopes for "positive steps on the part of the Russian Federation aimed at a cease-fire."

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Trump expressed his intention to hold a telephone conversation with Putin on May 17. He clarified that the talks will take place on May 19 at 10:00 a.m. US time (17:00 Moscow time). According to him, the main topics will be the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict and trade. The US president noted that after that he plans to call Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, as well as representatives of various NATO countries.

After the announcement of the telephone conversation between the American and Russian leaders, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Izvestia that the conversation between Putin and Trump was in the process of preparation.