Ninety minutes of phone conversation between Moscow and Washington. On the agenda: Ukraine, Iran, energy, negotiations, missile strikes. But part of the time was spent on something much warmer - Putin personally wished Melania Trump a happy birthday through her husband.

Putin's advisor Yuri Ushakov confirmed that the Russian president used part of the conversation to send Melania Trump a birthday greeting. Putin himself later described the gesture as "old-school diplomacy" - a formulation that says everything about the style of a man who wants to come across as a classic European statesman, not the leader of a country under sanctions.

Melania Trump has a history with the Kremlin. According to multiple analyses published in American and European media, Putin has in the past made political concessions at her request, while Trump himself has spoken about how much Putin respects his wife. These are delicate lines in a game where every move has its price.

What actually happened in the remaining 90 minutes? According to both sides, the conversation touched on Ukraine (Putin and Trump expressed "similar assessments" of Zelensky's behaviour), Iran (Putin offered help on the uranium issue), and energy markets. The result? No public conclusion.

In the Balkans, when two powerful men have personal chemistry, that means something - we all know what it looks like in our politics. But when Putin and Trump talk "like in the old school", that should be cause for concern. Because the old school of great powers has never gone well for the small ones. The question someone has to ask is simple: when two powerful men decide the world's affairs over the phone, who is the world consulting with?