Overview
- Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said the presidents spoke on December 29 following Trump’s meeting with a Ukrainian delegation and that Washington provided a briefing on the talks.
- Ushakov claimed Trump was outraged when informed of what Russia described as a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian presidential residence, and he warned of a severe response from Moscow.
- According to the Kremlin account, Russia will revisit parts of prior understandings in light of what it calls state terrorism, though both leaders agreed to continue their dialogue.
- Ushakov tallied ten Trump–Putin phone contacts in 2025, updating earlier counts that had cited at least nine based on open data.
- Open-source timing data, largely cited by Russia’s state-run Sputnik, indicates the calls stretched from February through December with several unusually long sessions, while official readouts from both governments have remained sparse on substance.