Former U.S. deputy national security adviser KT McFarland told Newsmax Tuesday the call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin covered a lot more than the Ukraine-Russian war.McFarland told “Newsline” that their overriding focus undoubtedly is potential long-range relations. “They’re looking ahead to what kind of a relationship they could have going forward. From President Trump’s perspective, he would very much like to drive a wedge between the bromance between the Chinese and Russian presidents. He would also probably like to put a wedge between Russia and Iran. Russia is one of Iran’s major supporters in this continuing war in the Middle East.”McFarland said Putin will be looking to essentially get a fresh start. “He’s been out in the cold for 3 1/2 years. He has been a global pariah. His only friends in the global stage are the North Korean president, the Iranian mullahs. And really, you know, [Chinese President] Xi Jinping. That’s it. And so President Putin, he really wants back into the club of … global world leaders.”McFarland said that’s where Trump’s diplomatic strategy unfolds. “Only President Trump can give him that. So I think that they’re going to have talked about Ukraine. Hopefully, they’ve agreed to, if not a final agreement, at least an agreement to have another meeting about it. But I think that their real goal for both of them was to look beyond the Ukraine war.”Everyone involved is looking for a “win,” said McFarland, so the details of any kind of ceasefire or war-ending agreement may still be far off.

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