Yasin Gungor
19 March 2025•Update: 19 March 2025
ISTANBUL
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz dismissed reports Wednesday that President Donald Trump waited an hour for a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin as “completely false garbage, fake news.”
Waltz told Fox News that the call started on time and lasted "for a very long time," covering critical issues such as relations, regional stability and the war in Ukraine.
“Donald J. Trump does not sit and wait for an hour for any head of state,” he said, underlining that there might have been some technical difficulties.
He described the call as “historic” and detailed discussions on implementing a ceasefire, prisoner exchanges, and operational aspects of the Ukraine war.
Waltz praised Trump’s role in breaking the diplomatic logjam, noting that even the head of NATO acknowledged his efforts.
"Now it's not if the war ends. We're debating how the war ends," he said.
The two leaders spoke Tuesday in a call that started at 1400GMT, according to the White House and ended around 1630GMT.
They discussed normalizing ties, prospects for settling the Ukraine conflict and the situation in the Middle East.
Trump said he and Putin agreed to an "immediate" ceasefire that would temporarily halt attacks "on all energy and infrastructure" amid the Kremlin's war against Ukraine.
Kyiv agreed last Tuesday to what appears to be a far more encompassing 30-day truce. Trump had sought to have Putin consent to joining that proposal as well, threatening potential economic penalties on Moscow if Putin did not agree.
