RUSSIA has revealed that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are ready to organise hockey matches in order to ease tensions in the two countries' relationship.
The two leaders shared a phone call on Tuesday aimed at ending hostilities in Ukraine.
And the Kremlin said: "Donald Trump supported Vladimir Putin's idea to organize hockey matches in the USA and Russia between Russian and American players playing in the NHL and KHL."
Relations between the countries reached a low point when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
But President Trump has expressed his determination to end the war, and proposed a ceasefire between the two sides.
Relations then thawed further when Trump gave Ukraine's President Zelensky a public dressing down in the Oval Office for questioning whether a diplomatic solution would be possible.
And the Russian Government revealed that it had agreed to a 30-day ceasefire in two areas – attacks on energy infrastructure and the Black Sea.
A Kremlin statement read: "During the conversation, Donald Trump put forward a proposal for the parties to the conflict to mutually refrain from attacks on energy infrastructure facilities for 30 days.
"Vladimir Putin responded positively to this initiative and immediately gave the Russian military the corresponding order.
"The Russian President also responded constructively to Donald Trump's idea of implementing a well-known initiative concerning the safety of navigation in the Black Sea.
"It was agreed to begin negotiations to further elaborate specific details of such an agreement."
But the most surprising proposal was the one to hold hockey matches between US and Russian players.
Vladimir Putin is believed to be a keen ice hockey fan and has often been filmed playing himself.
And the move to hockey diplomacy between the US and Russia ironically comes at the same time as the sport led to tensions between the Americans and neighbour Canada.
The US anthem was booed in Montreal in a match which the Americans won 3-1.
And the same happened to the Canadian anthem when the teams met five days later in Boston, with Canada prevailing 3-2.
Russia has found itself banned from the majority of global sports since the invasion of Ukraine, most notably soccer, basketball and hockey.
And in almost all international sports in which its athletes are allowed to participate, they must compete as independent athletes without a national flag.
Prior to being cast out of the global sporting community, Russia hosted a successful soccer World Cup in 2018 and a Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014 which was seen as having mixed results.
And Putin may well see exhibition matches with the United States as a big step to re-entering international events.
The US meanwhile, is looking forward to hosting its own soccer World Cup in 2026, with Trump having recently met Fifa President Gianni Infantino at the White House.
With Ukraine looking unlikely to recapture areas in the east of the country occupied by Russia, talks may also eventually turn to normalising the sporting situation in the east of the country.
Two teams from occupied Crimea were absorbed into the Russian fourth tier in 2023, without Uefa approving the move.
Meanwhile clubs like 14-time champions Shakhtar Donetsk have been playing in exile in the Government-controlled part of Ukraine since 2014.
A report from Semafor suggested that Trump could consider recognising Crimea as Russian territory as part of peace deal.
But a US national security council spokesman said the Trump administration had “made no such commitments and we will not negotiate this deal through the media”.
The spokesman added: “Just two weeks ago, both Ukraine and Russia were miles apart on a ceasefire agreement, and we are now closer to a deal thanks to the leadership of President Trump.
“The goal remains the same: stop the killing and find a peaceful resolution to this conflict.”
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