While the brunt of the political world’s attention was focused on the Democratic debates Wednesday night, the White House released a bit of news: in a readout to reporters, the administration detailed a call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in which the two world leaders “discussed trade between the two countries,” and Trump “expressed concern over the vast wildfires afflicting Siberia.” The readout came hours after Moscow detailed the call, in which Trump apparently “offered help in putting out wildfires in Siberia,” and which the Kremlin said it considered “a sign that it is possible that full-scale bilateral relations will be restored in the future.”

By waiting to acknowledge the call until Democrats were at each others’ throats, the White House was perhaps looking to skirt the scrutiny that often accompanies Trump’s interactions with Putin. Their buddy-buddy relationship especially raises eyebrows, and Putin appeared pleased by Wednesday’s call, saying he’d take Trump up on his offer of assistance “if it becomes necessary.” Moreover, at least according to the Russian embassy, the call could represent a return to their initial coziness. “The presidents of Russia and the United States agreed to continue contacts in the form of telephone conversations as well as personal meetings,” the embassy said.

How exactly Trump would go about putting out wildfires in Siberia is unclear; neither the White House nor the Kremlin offered much detail. But the offer stands in contrast to his attitude toward similar disasters in his own country. He’s repeatedly complained about having to provide assistance to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico—“Puerto Rico got far more money than Texas & Florida combined, yet their government can’t do anything right,” he tweeted in April, “The place is a mess”—and last August he blamed a string of deadly California wildfires on “bad environmental laws” and “gross mismanagement of the forests.” He subsequently threatened to stop sending federal money to the state unless it fixed its forest-management methods, pronto.

In a tour of the fire-ravaged area, the president proffered some of his own forestry suggestions. “You’ve got to take care of the floors. You know the floors of the forests, it’s very important,” he told reporters, referencing a conversation with the president of Finland, whom he’d met on an international trip the week prior. “He called it a forest nation,” Trump said, “and they spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things, and they don’t have any problems.” The Finnish president disputed this characterization, telling local press that he “can’t recall anything being mentioned on raking,” and experts dispute that raking is an effective way to prevent forest fires. If his chat with Putin is any indication, however, it may only be a matter of time before Trump pops up in to Siberia, rake in hand.

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