Trump and Putin exceed average in number of conversations
According to calculations, in the first 5 months of 2025 alone, the two leaders Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump had 6 phone calls.
According to TASS calculations on July 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump contacted each other more times in the first five months of 2025 than they did a year ago.
During President Trump's previous term (2017-2021), the two leaders spoke an average of five times a year. Over four years, they had 20 phone conversations and six in-person meetings.
In 2025, the two leaders of Russia and the United States had 6 phone calls.
President Putin first called President Trump shortly after the election, in November 2016, before he was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States. They had a formal summit in January 2017, eight days after Trump’s inauguration. The leaders spoke six times in 2016. They also held two in-person meetings, on the sidelines of summits in Germany and Vietnam.
In 2018, the leaders spoke by phone twice - in February and March. And in July, major negotiations between Russia and the United States took place in Helsinki. The heads of state also had short talks on the sidelines of the forums in Paris (November) and Buenos Aires (December).
Similar communications and connections continued in 2019. The leaders spoke by phone in May, July and December. And in June, they were able to talk at the G20 summit in Osaka.
2020 was a record year for contacts, although the Russian and US presidents could not meet in person due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin called each other eight times, including four in April. The calls in April took place almost consecutively: on the 10th and 12th.
One of them was a trilateral one: with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The other two conversations took place directly between President Putin and President Trump. The main topic was the situation on the oil market: global demand fell sharply due to the pandemic and OPEC countries increased production, as a result of which oil prices fell to $22 a barrel for the first time in 20 years. The countries agreed to cut production.
During Trump's first term, the last conversation with President Putin took place on July 23, 2020. The topics covered included arms control, the situation surrounding Iran's nuclear program, the fight against Covid, the development of Russia-US trade relations, and space cooperation.
In addition, heads of state regularly exchange telegrams, with congratulations or condolences, and issue joint statements on regional conflicts.
