The National Hockey League (NHL) has said it would be “inappropriate” to comment after the Kremlin said President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed holding matches between the Russian-led teams and the North American league.
Why It Matters
Trump and Putin spoke on the phone on Tuesday after the Republican president’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, traveled to Moscow for a brief meeting with the Russian leader last week.
Putin rejected a U.S.-proposed, 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, to which Kyiv agreed during a meeting with a high-level U.S. delegation in Saudi Arabia last week. Russia consented to halting strikes on energy infrastructure during the conversation with Trump, but stopped short of greenlighting a more comprehensive deal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin had “effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire,” adding: “It would be right for the world to respond by rejecting any attempts by Putin to prolong the war.”
What To Know
The Kremlin, publishing a summary of the call on Tuesday, said Trump had “expressed support” for Putin’s proposal to hold ice hockey matches on both Russian and American soil, featuring players from the North American and Russia-aligned leagues.
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A White House readout of the phone call did not mention discussions around ice hockey matches with the Kremlin.
The Moscow-headquartered Kontinental Hockey League was formed in 2008, and includes just under two dozen teams from Russia, Belarus, China and Kazakhstan.
“We have just become aware of the conversation between President Trump and President Putin,” the NHL said in a statement to several outlets, including The Associated Press.
“Obviously, we were not a party to those discussions and it would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Trump and Putin agreed on “an energy and infrastructure ceasefire,” and to carry out talks on how to put a ceasefire in place that would cover the Black Sea.
Discussions on a maritime deal, and a “full ceasefire,” will start straight away in the Middle East, Leavitt said.
Ukraine’s Zelensky told reporters on Tuesday he expected to speak with Trump to “understand the details,” but did not provide a timeline for when that conversation would take place.
“We have always supported the position of not attacking the energy sector with any weapons,” the Ukrainian leader added.
Early on Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities reported Russia attacked the country with six missiles and 145 drones overnight, following the phone call.
“It is these types of nighttime attacks by Russia that destroy our energy sector, our infrastructure, and the normal life of Ukrainians,” Zelensky said in a statement. “The fact that this night is no exception shows that the pressure on Russia must continue for the sake of peace.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said early on Wednesday it had intercepted 57 drones over Russia through the night.
The Kremlin readout said Trump and Putin had a “detailed and frank exchange of views,” while the Russian leader laid out the “essential need to eliminate the root causes of the crisis.” Russia invaded its neighbor, starting off the full-scale war, in February 2022.
The Kremlin said cutting Kyiv off from foreign military aid and intelligence-sharing, which Trump briefly authorized ahead of the U.S. talks with Ukraine in Jeddah last week, were a “key condition” of heading towards a ceasefire deal, along with stripping down Ukraine’s military capabilities. Many of Kyiv’s backers see Ukraine’s military power being maintained as vital for deterring future Russian attacks.
Trump later told Fox News that he had not discussed aid “at all” with Putin.
The Kremlin said Russia and Ukraine would swap 175 prisoners each on Wednesday, adding Moscow would return 23 “heavily wounded” Ukrainian soldiers to Kyiv “as a gesture of goodwill.” Zelensky described this as a “pre-planned exchange.”
What People Are Saying
The Kremlin said in its readout of the Trump-Putin call that Trump had “expressed support for Vladimir Putin’s idea to hold ice hockey matches in both the United States and Russia between Russian and American players from the NHL and the KHL.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that “the two leaders agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has huge upside.”
What Happens Next
Talks will start “immediately” on broadening the ceasefire, according to the White House, and it remains to be seen whether attacks by Russia and Ukraine will continue.