Putin keeps Trump waiting more than an hour for high-stakes Ukraine war phone call

Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly left President Donald Trump waiting for more than an hour for their high-stakes phone call over the Ukraine war.

The Express in the U.K. reported that Putin, who was at another event prior to the call, “laughed off a warning” that he was late for the call with Trump.

The Russian dictator was addressing the annual congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, including the country’s top bosses, in Moscow.

Organization leader Alexander Shokhin looked at his watch, saying that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had announced the timing of the crucial call was set for before 6 p.m. in Moscow.

Russian media reports had said the phone session between Trump and Putin would take place between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. and it was already after 4 p.m.

“Don’t listen to him! That’s his job,” replied Putin, showing no sign of wanting to leave.

“Well, I don’t know. Now we need to see what Trump says about this,” said Shokhin, a former Putin deputy prime minister.

“I didn’t mention Trump. I was talking about Peskov,” Putin said, evidently relaxed at his lax timekeeping, according to the Express.

The Putin entourage eventually left the conference venue, the Moscow International House of Music, about a 20-minute drive from the Kremlin, at close to 5 p.m.

The White House has confirmed that Trump and Putin began to speak at around 10 a.m. EST.

Trump is looking to mediate an end to the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago.

Trump is looking to secure a ceasefire and then work on a peace plan between the two nations.