US ‘In Contact’ With Russia, Trump Confirms

President Donald Trump has acknowledged that the United States and Russia are “in contact” related to the tragic events of the American Airlines passenger plane colliding with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday evening near Reagan National airport in Washington D.C.

All 64 passengers and crew members aboard Flight 5342 perished, while the three US servicemembers on board the H-60 Black Hawk were killed. No one survived the crash in the Potomac River. Among the 16 figure-skaters on board, two well-known skating coaches who were Russian nationals died: Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.

Trump in a Thursday briefing told reporters: “We had a Russian contingent – some very talented people – unfortunately on that plane,” emphasizing of the deadly tragedy that he’s ”Very, very sorry about that.”

“We’ve already been in contact with Russia,” Trump said in response to a question from a reporter. He pledged that the the US “will facilitate” the transfer of the remains of any Russian nationals who died in the crash, and that sanctions and flight bans into Russia will not impact this.

The Kremlin has since clarified that this did not involve direct contact between Presidents Putin and Trump.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has since indicated there may have been up to four Russian citizens on board the plane when it went down: “According to our embassy, three victims of this plane crash had Russian passports. There is confirmation regarding another, a fourth person who could hold a Russian passport, this information is currently being verified,” the diplomat said.

Despite Trump’s positive words of condolence, Zakharova strongly suggested that the US side hasn’t been very responsive to Russian requests:

“Our embassy is communicating with the US Department of State on the entire range of issues,” Zakharova assured reporters, even as it “looks like a one-way communication.” The Russian embassy has been asking questions, “but we have not received substantive responses so far. However, there is communication, and we have been given some general replies,” she explained.

“We are grateful to the American authorities, with whom we are in constant contact, for the words of support expressed to the families of the victims and their readiness to help with the transfer of the remains to their homeland,” the Russian embassy said in a statement on Thursday.

The question of how quickly Trump and Putin might directly engage in frank dialogue related to seeking to wind down the Ukraine war is being watched by many.

There’s a likelihood of lower level talks which could hammer out the parameters of such initial dialogue. But the expected Trump-Putin phone call quickly on the heels of Trump’s inauguration doesn’t appear to have happened yet.