Revealing the special gift Mr. Putin once sent to Mr. Trump

(Dan Tri) - An official close to US President Donald Trump revealed the gift that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent to the White House boss.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: Getty).

In an interview with host Tucker Carlson on March 21, Trump's senior envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff revealed that Putin once commissioned a "beautiful portrait" of Trump.

The painting, painted by a “leading Russian artist,” was later presented to the US President. He did not specify when Mr Putin gave the painting.

In addition, Mr. Witkoff also said that President Putin prayed for Mr. Trump after he was assassinated last year while campaigning.

Mr Witkoff, who has been to Moscow twice to negotiate ceasefire terms between Russia and Ukraine, said the Russian president had recounted his reaction after Mr Trump, then a Republican candidate, was grazed by a gunman who fired a bullet past his ear.

“When President Trump was shot, Putin went to his local church, met with his priest and prayed for the President,” said Mr. Witkoff.

Mr Putin “had a friendship with Mr Trump and prayed for him,” Mr Witkoff explained. He also said that when he told this story to Mr Trump, the US president was “visibly moved”.

Mr Trump has long claimed to have a very good relationship with Mr Putin, calling him "a strong leader," leading Mr Trump's political opponents to criticize the US president for being too soft on the Kremlin.

Earlier this week, the two leaders had a roughly two-hour phone call to discuss ending the Russia-Ukraine war, with Mr Trump describing the conversation as “very good and productive”.

In an interview, Mr. Witkoff said the goal of the current phase of negotiations is to establish a temporary ceasefire for 30 days, and during that time, the sides will discuss a permanent ceasefire.

"The ultimate goal is a 30-day ceasefire, during which we will discuss a permanent ceasefire. We are not far from that, but to achieve a 30-day ceasefire we need to determine all the conditions on the battlefield, which is why I started with Kursk," he said.

He denied Western media reports that Mr Trump and Mr Putin had failed to negotiate a 30-day ceasefire across the frontline. He called the agreement between Ukraine and Russia to stop attacking each other’s energy infrastructure a major step forward.

"They never discussed it before. But now we are talking about it. They never mentioned reinstating the moratorium on maritime attacks in the Black Sea. Now we are getting closer to that, and it will be implemented next week. There are still some details to be worked out, but this has become part of the negotiations. These are very important things," Mr. Witkoff said.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/tiet-lo-mon-qua-dac-biet-ong-putin-tung-gui-tang-ong-trump-20250322120122854.htm