PROBABLY NOT VERY: Is Putin happy with Trump’s comeback?

When Donald Trump won the presidential election last Wednesday, one leader’s message of congratulation was conspicuously absent. It took the Russian president Vladimir Putin more than twenty-four hours to pass comment on Trump’s win. He eventually praised the president-elect as “courageous” and said he had “nothing against” Trump trying to resume contact with him. Putin, however, wouldn’t be calling him.

Well now it appears Trump may well have made the call. It has been reported that last Thursday, the president-elect picked up the phone to Putin, warning him “not to escalate the war in Ukraine” and reminding him of the American military’s “significant presence” in Europe. The two are also said to have “briefly” touched on the idea of a possible peace deal that would see Russia hold on to some of the Ukrainian territory it currently occupies.

Intriguingly, this morning the Kremlin denied the call took place. Speaking to journalists, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the reports “completely untrue. This is pure fiction, this is simply false information.” Such denials should, as always though, be taken with a pinch of salt.

Trump enters office with a reputation as a peacemaker and without Biden’s baggage of empty warnings, counterproductive demonization, and aid that’s usually been too little/too late — not to mention likely graft.

If anyone can negotiate a decent both-sides-win-a-little/both-sides-lose-a-little deal, it’s him.