Rutte noted the importance of maintaining contacts with Putin on Ukraine

A telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Leader Donald Trump is of great importance, but it cannot lead to an instant settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. This was stated on May 21 by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at a joint press conference with Czech President Peter Pavel.

"At the very beginning of his presidency, Trump began working to break the impasse over Ukraine, and I think it was extremely important. Therefore, he began to interact directly with Putin," he is quoted as saying on the alliance's website.

Rutte added that it would not be easy to achieve a ceasefire and that in the "next one, two or three weeks" there would be many potential events affecting the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. He stressed that contacts with the Russian side are necessary to achieve a peaceful resolution of the situation in Ukraine.

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At the same time, Moscow and Washington are discussing a meeting between the two presidents on how the dialogue on conflict resolution will develop.

Putin and Trump had a telephone conversation on May 19 that lasted more than two hours. During the conversation, they discussed, among other things, the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. The Russian president called the conversation informative, frank and useful.