After India, now Russia: Did Trump pull same trick on Putin after making tall claims on Pakistan mediation?
(File) President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin | AP
Donald Trump has done it again. On May 10, he claimed that India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire following talks mediated by the US. Now, the US President claimed that Vladimir Putin has agreed to "immediately start negotiations towards a ceasefire" with Ukraine.
However, Moscow contradicted Trump, saying Putin and his US counterpart did not discuss the timeline of the ceasefire but acknowledged Trump's interest in signing a truce immediately.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin and Trump spoke about how bilateral ties between the US and Russia could improve once the Ukrainian conflict is resolved.
This comes more than a week after Trump made similar claims about mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both countries for using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
However, hours later, India announced that both countries agreed to stop firing after talks held "directly between the two countries".
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the Pakistani DGMO (Director General of Military Operations) called up India's DGMO at 3.35 pm, following which "all firing and military action from land, air and sea from 5 pm onwards".
However, after repeatedly claiming he had a significant role in brokering the ceasefire, Trump on May 15 diluted his claims, saying, "I don't wanna say I did but I sure as hell helped settle the problem between Pakistan and India last week."
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