'Could get offended': Putin drops everything; rushes out mid-event to take Trump's call (WATCH)
Synopsis
Russian President Vladimir Putin abruptly left a public forum to take a phone call from US President Donald Trump, saying it would be awkward to keep Trump waiting and he could get offended.
Russian President Vladimir Putin abruptly left a major event to take a call from Donald Trump, admitting it would be “awkward to make him wait” and it could offend the famously impatient US president.
"Please don't be angry. I understand that we could talk more. But it's so awkward to make him (Trump) wait, he could get offended," Putin said as he signed off mid-event.
The two leaders had a long conversation, as described by Trump, over phone on Thursday and they discussed Ukraine and Iran among other issues.
What Trump said on call with Putin
"We had a call. It was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things, including Iran. We also talked about the war with Ukraine," Trump said.
The US president, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the conversation as the two leaders could not make any progress on Ukraine peace deal.
"I am not happy about that... No, I didn't make any progress with him (Russian President Putin) today," Trump said.
Kremlin said the call ran for nearly an hour, with Putin making it clear he remained firm on Russia’s objectives. "Our president said that Russia will achieve the aims it set, that is to say the elimination of the root causes that led to the current state of affairs. Russia will not give up on these aims," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, as quoted by AFP.