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Latest on Trump’s presidency: Putin call on Ukraine war, federal cuts and Cabinet pick votes
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Hegseth speaks to NATO allies about Trump’s plan for Russia and Ukraine
02:10 – Source: CNN
• Trump speaks with Putin and Zelensky: President Donald Trump said negotiations to end the war in Ukraine will start “immediately” after a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday. The call, the first known conversation between them since Trump took office, came a day after Russia released an imprisoned American. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also spoke to Trump today, his presidency said. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ruled out Ukraine’s NATO membership and said Europe must be responsible for the country’s security.
• Shrinking the federal workforce: Trump signed an executive order Tuesday giving Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) more power to make large-scale cuts and limit hiring to no more than one employee per agency for every four who depart. The move comes as dozens of court cases against the Trump administration seek to pause or slow the president’s policy changes.
• The latest on Trump’s Cabinet: The Senate voted to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as the top intelligence chief today, a major win for Trump as she had been among the most controversial of his Cabinet picks. Sen. Mitch McConnell was the only Republican to vote against her nomination. The Senate also voted to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination as secretary of health and human services, paving the way for his confirmation this week.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over lack of access to legal services for migrants transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from the United States, requesting immediate access to those detainees.
Last week, the Trump administration began transporting migrants to the naval base on US military aircraft, a move that sparked backlash from immigrant advocates and prompted fears of prolonged detention without legal representation. Dozens of migrants who were in government custody in the US have since been sent to the facility.
Wednesday’s lawsuit seeks immediate in-person access to migrant detainees, as well as video, and telephone access. Plaintiffs include some family members of the detainees and legal organizations who want access to offer representation.
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, argues that the detainees have a First Amendment right to counsel and similarly legal organizations have their own First Amendment right to meet with detainees who may want their representation.
A federal court over the weekend temporarily blocked the administration from sending three Venezuela immigrants to Guantanamo. The attorneys in that case argued that the Venezuelans fit the profile of those the administration was sending to the facility.
The administration is also facing other lawsuits over its agenda:
Executive order banning transgender girls and women in sports: Two transgender girls who attend high school in New Hampshire are challenging the administration’s executive order banning transgender girls and women from participating in sports, according to a court filing. The teens, Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, previously sued New Hampshire education officials over a state law prohibiting them from competing on girls’ sports teams at their public high schools. On Wednesday, their attorneys GLAD Law and the ACLU of New Hampshire filed an amended complaint asking the court to expand the case nationally to challenge Trump’s executive order.
Merit Systems Protection Board chair sues after firing: Cathy Harris, who was chairperson of the independent Merit Systems Protection Board, is asking the court to reinstate her to her job quickly, as the types of federal workers whose complaints she would have handled are fired across the federal government. The Merit Systems Protection Board is the primary agency for federal civil servants to lodge complaints, especially about their supervisors in the federal government. Harris says she received a one-sentence email telling her she was terminated this week. But Harris alleges she can only be removed from her office by the president if she was negligent or malfeasant, and that her 7-year term should end in 2028.
CNN’s Eric Levenson and Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.
Dr. Lawrence Tabak, longtime deputy director of the National Institutes of Health and a former acting director, retired abruptly from the agency on Tuesday.
In a brief email addressed to “Friends and Colleagues” and obtained by CNN, Tabak, who was a dentist and biomedical scientist, said his retirement was effective immediately. He didn’t give a reason for his departure, which stunned his colleagues.
In a separate email, sent Wednesday and obtained by CNN, acting NIH Director Dr. Matthew Memoli thanked Tabak and praised him for his years of service in his many roles throughout the agency.
“He has helped shape important policy decisions at NIH over four administrations,” Memoli wrote. “He has guided NIH through complex issues and will be sorely missed.”
One colleague who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak with the media described Tabak as a dedicated career public servant and said it felt unsettling not to have him there to help with continuity between administrations.
Another NIH source who asked not to be named said “people are surprised and sad” about the news.
Insiders at the agency said Wednesday that they believed the resignation was forced and that it wouldn’t have been Tabak’s preference to retire. “He’d want to be there to support leadership,” said one source, who asked not to be identified.
CNN has reached out to Tabak and the NIH.
Some context: Tabak’s resignation comes as the Trump administration planned to significantly reduce the amount it underwrites nationally at both public and private universities for funding the overhead costs of research programs.
Under the administration’s plan, funding from the NIH, known as indirect cost rates, would be capped at 15% from an average of more than 27%. Some research institutions, including Harvard, have rates higher than 60%, according to the NIH, which said in a post on X that the policy would save more than $4 billion a year.
A federal judge has blocked the effort nationwide.
CNN’s Katherine Dillinger, Katelyn Polantz and Veronica Stracqualursi contributed reporting.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has terminated contracts with multiple expert witnesses it had hired in cases against companies accused of hurting consumers, CNN has learned.
The decision to suddenly cancel the contracts suggests that the consumer watchdog no longer plans to pursue these enforcement actions under the Trump administration.
The expert witnesses requested anonymity to avoid retaliation. Another expert witness hired to pursue a case against a debt buyer told CNN they had been working on the case for several years before the termination notice on Tuesday.
“It’s pretty ludicrous,” this witness said.
The CFPB did not respond to a request for comment.
What is an expert witness? When the CFPB prepares to file a lawsuit against a company, it typically hires professors, researchers and others as experts to evaluate the evidence and testify against financial institutions. The moves come just days after CFPB leadership told employees to “stand down” on all work, including fighting financial abuse.
The newly-constituted board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, just elected President Donald Trump the chair of the board, two sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.
“It is a Great Honor to be Chairman of The Kennedy Center, especially with this amazing Board of Trustees. We will make The Kennedy Center a very special and exciting place!” Trump said on Truth Social Wednesday.
CNN has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment.
Trump on Monday named Ric Grenell, a longtime confidant already serving in multiple administration positions, to lead the performing arts center on a temporary basis after declaring himself the institution’s chairman late last week.
House Freedom Caucus member Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, on Wednesday appeared to be not on board with the GOP budget resolution, telling reporters that he had wanted more in spending cuts but that he’s open to hearing from the GOP leadership about its plans.
The House plan released Wednesday morning calls for at least $ 1.5 trillion in spending cuts — with a goal of $2 trillion, which if not reached would force lawmakers to cut $500 billion from their tax plans.
He was skeptical that the $2 trillion goal would be achieved and said that “there’s a lot of variables in this that we still got to go work out.”
“So, yeah, one and a half is lower than I want it to be. But it’s a floor, so I’m listening. But what else are they going to do?” Roy added.
Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump’s pick for deputy attorney general, told lawmakers Wednesday that he does not support the release of part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s report on the classified documents case he brought against Trump.
“Mr. Blanche, I understand everybody can say generically that they’ll follow the law. But, I’ve asked you a simple question about whether you’ll preserve evidence, and you can’t say ‘yes.’” Schiff said.
“No. I hope every single DOJ attorney, political, career, or anybody would say they would follow the rules,” Blanche responded.
Blanche, who represented Trump in both of the cases brought by Smith, as well as the New York hush money criminal case in which Trump was convicted, told Schiff he has “an attorney-client relationship with President Trump” but that “there’s no active matters” he’s currently representing Trump on.
He went on say that he didn’t think there would be a “blatant” conflict of interest at play if he was involved in the Justice Department’s review of those three cases.
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons slammed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday for ruling out the possibility that Ukraine could join NATO.
“I think giving that away proactively as a piece of negotiations going forward is a bad idea, strategically,” he told CNN.
Hegseth said in remarks before a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group earlier in the day that the US “does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.”
Coons, a top Democrat on the Foreign Relations committee, defended Ukraine for fighting “bravely, persistently, effectively” against Russia and pushing back “the second largest, most capable military on the planet when that war began.” He also said the Ukrainians “deserve a say about their future.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she was not aware of any preconditions set for a possible meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, after the US president announced on Wednesday that both leaders agreed to visit each other’s countries.
She added: “That doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
“I was just talking with the president and our national security team, I wasn’t made aware of any conditions, but if they exist, I’m happy to provide those,” Leavitt told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Leavitt also said that retired Gen. Keith Kellogg, the president’s envoy to Ukraine and Russia, is still part of the administration — despite Trump not listing him among those leading the negotiations between the two nations.
In November, Trump nominated Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, writing on Truth Social that, “Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.”
President Donald Trump spoke with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today, one day after the release of Marc Fogel from Russia.
Here are some of the most recent developments on relations between the US and Eastern European countries:
- US teacher wrongfully detained in Russia: Fogel, an American teacher detained for more than three years in Russia, is back in the United States. He was welcomed back by Trump on Tuesday night after the White House secured his release in an “exchange.” Accused Russian money launderer Alexander Vinnik is being released from US custody in exchange for Fogel, a Trump administration source told CNN Wednesday.
- Inside Fogel’s release: Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said he met a man named Kirill while working on Fogel’s release. Sources with knowledge of the exchange said he was referring to Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and a close Putin ally. Witkoff was on the ground in Russia for six to seven hours total, he said. While in the country, Witkoff also met with Putin himself, two sources said. The US envoy did say that Putin “had to approve” the release.
- American released from Belarus: Another American was released the day after Fogel — this time from Belarus. This American, who was not named out of a request for his privacy, was among a group of three political prisoners who were freed. The other two included Andrei Kuznechyk, who worked for US-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Alena Maushuk. The American, who was detained in September 2024, is the second US citizen released from Belarus under the Trump administration. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko “didn’t get anything for this exchange,” Chris Smith, a deputy assistant secretary of state for European affairs who handles the Belarus portfolio, told CNN.
- Trump speaks with Putin: The two leaders discussed the exchange of Russian and American citizens, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. But, a bigger topic of the 90-minute call was the war in Ukraine, Trump said on Truth Social. “We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately” on resolving the war, Trump said. Peskov added Trump had expressed his desire to put an end “to hostilities in Ukraine as soon as possible.” During the call, Putin invited Trump to Moscow, the Kremlin said.
- Call with Ukraine’s leader: After his conversation with Putin, Trump talked to Zelensky for about an hour, the Ukrainian presidency said. The US president said earlier on Truth Social that he was going to inform Zelensky about his call with Putin. Trump said on social media the call “went very well” and that they “discussed a variety of topics having to do with the War.”
- Also on the war in Ukraine: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact group at NATO headquarters that it is “unrealistic” to expect Ukraine’s borders to revert to before the 2014 annexation of Crimea. He also ruled out Kyiv’s membership into NATO and reaffirmed that no US troops will be deployed to Ukraine.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Jennifer Hansler, Sean Lyngaas, Kit Maher, Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Alayna Treene, Anna Chernova, Christian Edwards, Kaitlan Collins, Betsy Klein, Haley Britzky and Matthew Chance contributed reporting to this post.
Ten percent of FBI employees are in their probationary period and at risk of being fired, the FBI Agents Association said in a letter today to congressional leaders, urging Capitol Hill to work with President Donald Trump to protect their jobs.
Among the employees on probation are nearly 1,000 special agents, that are already involved in field operations, who have gone through extensive training and background checks at the FBI academy, a total cost of around $300,000 per agent, the letter says.
Another 2,600 analysts and professional staff are also at risk.
The letter comes amid dramatic cuts to the federal work force. CNN has reported that the Trump administration is planning widespread layoffs soon, an effort that could disproportionately affect probationary employees who are easier to terminate.
“We urge you to work with President Trump to ensure that federal personnel policies do not hinder the FBI’s mission, and that Special Agents completing their probationary periods do not face termination or placement on administrative leave solely due to their probationary status,” the letter adds.
An unnamed American citizen was released from prison in Belarus on Wednesday, top State Department officials told CNN.
The American — who was not named out of a request for his privacy — was among a group of three political prisoners who were freed. The other two included Andrei Kuznechyk, who worked for US-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Alena Maushuk.
President Donald Trump had teased the release of another US citizen on Tuesday after the release of Marc Fogel from Russia.
The American, who was detained in September 2024, is the second US citizen released from Belarus under the Trump administration. Anastassia Nuhfer had been detained in December 2024 and was released in January.
Smith claimed that this “was a unilateral gesture by the Lukashenka authorities,” saying they are looking to improve ties with the US.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko “didn’t get anything for this exchange,” Smith said. “They are looking to improve their ties with us, and they’re making smart choices by releasing these Americans and other political prisoners in in order to open a political dialogue with our side.”
Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya thanked US President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the US State Department “for their joint efforts in making this happen.”
Some background: Under the first Trump administration, the US had sought diplomatic rapprochement with Belarus. Those efforts were put aside after Lukashenko self-proclaimed electoral victory and massive crackdown on protesters and civil society in August 2020, which Trump administration officials condemned at the time.
Lukashenko’s government continues to detain more than a thousand political prisoners, and the US has hit Belarus with a slew of sanctions for its support of Russia’s war against Ukraine and its crackdown on civil society.
CNN’s Christian Edwards contributed reporting to this post, which was updated with the statement from Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
President Donald Trump’s promised reciprocal tariffs will be announced before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on Thursday, the White House said Wednesday, after the president previewed the planned action this weekend.
Asked whether the tariffs would be announced prior to Modi’s visit, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “I do believe it will come before the prime minister’s visit tomorrow, and I will let the president discuss the details on the reciprocal tariff front, but this is something he believes strongly in.”
Trump said on Sunday that reciprocal tariffs could hit just about “every country” and would be on top of a 10% across-the-board tariff that went into effect last week on top of other tariffs on Chinese goods and stricter 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum he announced Monday.
Leavitt said Wednesday the move would be aimed at matching existing tariffs on American goods.
What other officials have said: White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNN that “there’s a lot of development going on” and there was “no hard news to announce right at this moment” on reciprocal tariffs. He declined to say when to expect the president to impose them.
Hassett’s words mirrored those of White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who told CNN’s on Tuesday that government officials are taking the time to study and uncover what they deem instances of unfair trade policies.
CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald contributed reporting to this post.
GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a key Senate swing vote, announced in a post on X that she will support Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Alaska lawmaker said that Kennedy “has made numerous commitments to me and my colleagues, promising to work with Congress to ensure public access to information and to base vaccine recommendations on data-driven, evidence-based, and medically sound research.”
In a lengthy post, Murkowski wrote, “I intend to support Robert Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as Secretary of Health and Human Services.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with US President Donald Trump on the phone Wednesday — a conversation that occurred after Trump talked with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said in an earlier Truth Social post that he was going to inform Zelensky of his conversation with the Russian leader.
Trump said the call with Zelensky “went very well,” according to a readout posted to social media.
The call between Zelensky and Trump lasted for about an hour, according to Sergii Nykyforov, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian president.
Zelensky said in a social media post he had a “meaningful conversation” with Trump, and he is working with the US president to achieve a “lasting, reliable peace” after nearly three years of Russia’s full-scale invasion. He said they also discussed Trump’s earlier call with Putin.
Trump’s call with the Russian leader: Trump and Putin talked about a variety of topics, including Russia’s war in Ukraine. Trump administration officials said they hoped the exchange could portend renewed efforts to end the conflict, which is about to enter its fourth year.
Trump for weeks had been signaling his desire to speak with Putin as he works to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
Also today on Ukraine: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ruled out membership for Ukraine in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Wednesday and said it is “unrealistic” to expect the country’s borders to revert to before the 2014 annexation of Crimea. He made the remarks before the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
This post has been updated with details about the call between Trump and Zelensky.
A key Senate Democrat is pushing for an independent watchdog investigation into the “legality and scope” of the agreement allowing Elon Musk and his aides to access sensitive or classified government information as part of their ongoing work for to reduce the size of the federal workforce, according to a new letter obtained by CNN.
The letter from Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, specifically asks the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the Trump administration’s move to designate Musk and his associates as “special government employees,” noting the title does not afford them “carte blanche access to government data and servers.”
The letter from Murphy underscores how Musk’s actions have stirred a five-alarm fire among Democrats in Congress, with Republicans far more muted in their response.
The GAO has already agreed to a separate request from Senate Democrats to investigate the Musk-backed Department of Government Efficiency’s access to the US Treasury payment system, a GAO spokesperson told CNN.
Baxter said she did not have a timeline for when the GAO probe would be complete.
Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon — the ranking members on the banking and finance committees, respectively — last week asked GAO to investigate what information DOGE members had accessed at the Treasury’s payment system and whether Trump political appointees had pressured career officials to grant that access.
Mindful of that scrutiny and attention on Musk — from Congress, to the courts, to the citizenry — President Donald Trump summoned him to answer questions from the Oval Office on Tuesday where he assured there would be transparency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Donald Trump to visit Moscow during his call with the US president on Wednesday, the Kremlin said.
During the call, Putin “expressed readiness” to receive American officials and supported Trump’s assertion that the time has come for both countries to “work together,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Peskov said that Trump had expressed his desire to put an end “to hostilities in Ukraine as soon as possible.”
Barack Obama was the last US president to visit Russia, when he attended the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg in 2013.
An in-person meeting yesterday: United States Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met privately with Putin while in Moscow on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the meeting told CNN.
When asked by CNN on Wednesday if he had met with Putin, Witkoff replied, “That’s for the president to comment on.” He added that Putin pardoned Marc Fogel and “had to approve it,” noting his direct involvement in the American prisoner’s release from Russia.
Earlier, when CNN asked who Witkoff met with on the ground in Russia, Witkoff pointed to a man named Kirill. Sources with knowledge of the exchange said he was referring to Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and a close Putin ally. Both Dmitriev and the Russian Direct Investment Fund are under US sanction.
The Senate voted 53-47, on party lines, to break a filibuster on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security, paving the way for a confirmation vote on Thursday morning at the latest.
Absent a time agreement with Democrats, the Senate will vote on Kennedy confirmation 7 a.m. ET on Thursday. At that time, they will also vote to break a filibuster on Howard Lutnick’s nomination to be Secretary of Commerce.
With several key swing Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Bill Cassidy, saying that they will back Kennedy’s nomination, he is expected to be confirmed.
The Senate voted to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence earlier today.
This post has been updated with more details on the timing of the vote on Kennedy’s confirmation.
Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, after voting against Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to be director of national intelligence, said he did not vote for her because she has “a history of alarming lapses in judgment.”
The former Senate majority leader outlined key responsibilities of the director of national intelligence, including managing the nation’s secrets. McConnell said he felt that Gabbard “failed to demonstrate that she is prepared to assume this tremendous national trust.”
“Beginning today, the brave men and women of America’s intelligence community will turn to Director Gabbard for principled leadership and sounder judgment in the service of America’s interests and national security. I join all of them in hoping that she rises to the immense responsibilities of her office,” McConnell said in the statement.
Senate Democrats praised McConnell for breaking with his party on Wednesday and voting against Gabbard’s nomination to be director of national intelligence.
Democratic Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont said he’s “impressed” with McConnell, saying the Kentucky Republican chose correctly between loyalty to Trump or to national security. “A lot of my Republican colleagues are very loyal to Trump and fearful of straying,” he added.
McConnell also joined his Republican colleagues Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski in voting against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last month.
This post has been updated with reactions from Democratic senators to McConnell’s vote.
The Senate voted 52-48 to confirm former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as Donald Trump’s director of national security. Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell voted with Democrats against her confirmation.
Gabbard will be sworn in at the White House later Wednesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. She is Trump’s 14th nominee to be confirmed since January 20th.
Gabbard, one of the president’s more controversial picks, faced concerns from several Republican senators over her lack of support for Ukraine, her shifting position on FISA Section 702 — a key surveillance and security tool — her 2017 meeting with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and her past support for Edward Snowden.
Several key swing Republican senators, including Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Todd Young, ultimately decided to back her confirmation. McConnell was the only Republican to vote against confirming Gabbard.
On Monday night, Murkowski acknowledged in a statement that she still had “concerns about certain positions [Gabbard] has previously taken,” but added that Gabbard “brings independent thinking and necessary oversight to her new role.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune defended Gabbard’s nomination in a speech on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, in which he highlighted her military service and focused on her promise to “rightsize” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. “I am glad that Ms. Gabbard plans to focus on identifying and eliminating redundancies and inefficiencies to restore the office to what it was originally designed to be,” he said.
He also said that he was “glad to hear” Gabbard refer to FISA Section 702 as essential, after Gabbard seemed to go back and forth on her position on the issue.
This post has been updated with more reporting on the vote on Gabbard’s nomination. CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed reporting to this post.
President Donald Trump had a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday morning, marking the first known conversation between the presidents since Trump assumed office last month. It came a day after Russia released an American imprisoned in the country.
Trump administration officials said they hoped the exchange could portend renewed efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, which is about to enter its fourth year.
In a readout of the conversation posted on Truth Social, Trump said, “We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects.”
Trump for weeks had been signaling his desire to speak with Putin as he works to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
“A single can change the course of history,” Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of Russian Direct Investment Fund and a close Putin ally, told CNN’s Matthew Chance.
“Today, the leaders of the U.S. and Russia have possibly opened a door to a future shaped by cooperation, not confrontation,” Dmitriev said.
Dmitriev had met with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff on the ground during his efforts to return the detained American teacher Marc Fogel from Russia, sources with knowledge of that exchange said
Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, hadn’t spoken to his Russian counterpart in nearly three years.
The Wednesday call lasted for nearly 90 minutes, the Kremlin said. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the two leaders discussed the exchange of Russian and American citizens “among other topics.” He called the conversation “quite positive and constructive.”
CNN’s Fred Pleitgen, Anna Chernova, Christian Edwards, Matthew Chance and Michael Rios contributed reporting to this post.
This post has been updated with additional reporting about the call and with comments from the Kremlin.
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