But Putin gave Trump a strict 15-minute window to make the call before going to bed as it was late night in Moscow, according to a Daily Beast report.During an interview on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained that it was very late in Moscow and Putin told Trump he could either call immediately or wait until the next day, but Trump chose to call that night, taking the opportunity within the short time frame, as per the report.Bessent said, “Look, it was very late in Moscow,” adding, “President Putin was open to meeting with President Zelensky and as you know President Trump is very persuasive, they had just met,” as quoted by Daily Beast.When host Laura Ingraham asked if Putin was staying up to wait for the call from Trump, Bessent responded, saying, “Well, the president gave him the option, ‘I could call or send a message’ and Putin said ‘Well, I will be up for 15 more minutes or you can call tomorrow’. While, the Washington Post pointed out the Hungarian capital Budapest could be a possible option, which would be followed by a trilateral meeting of the two presidents joined by Trump, as reported by Daily Beast.ALSO READ: Shocking twist: Computer Science grads face one of the highest unemployment rates today However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov indicated that the meeting is yet to be confirmed on Putin’s end, saying, “Any contacts involving top officials must be prepared with the utmost care,” adding, “We do not refuse any forms of work—neither bilateral nor trilateral,” as quoted in the report.While, during an interview on The Mark Levin Show, Trump shared that he wanted Putin and Zelensky to meet on their own first to clear the air, as per the Daily Beast report. Witkoff added, “The president began to sense in this meeting in Alaska that we had a lot of the precursors agreed to for a peace deal, so why not pursue an entire peace deal?” as quoted by Daily Beast.ASLO READ: Morgan Stanley: AI boom could add $16 trillion to markets, but workers may pay the price as 90% jobs may be impacted It was very late in Moscow, and Putin was about to go to bed, so he gave Trump a short window to make the call or wait until the next day, as per the Daily Beast report.Trump wanted to organize a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky to move forward with peace talks, as per the Daily Beast report.
Author: Shreya Biswas
Published at: 2025-08-20 21:57:22
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