US President Donald Trump stated on Thursday that a phone call earlier in the day with Vladimir Putin yielded no progress at all on efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Conversely, a Kremlin aide reported that the Russian president reiterated Moscow’s commitment to pushing for solutions to the conflict’s “root causes.”
According to a readout provided by Putin’s aide, Yuri Ushakov, the two leaders did not discuss a recent pause in some US weapons shipments to Kyiv during their nearly hour-long conversation.
US attempts to resolve Russia’s war in Ukraine through diplomacy have largely stalled, and Trump has faced increasing pressure – including from some Republicans – to urge Putin to negotiate earnestly.
Within hours of the call’s conclusion, Ukrainian officials reported an apparent Russian drone attack that sparked a fire in an apartment building in a northern suburb of Kyiv, indicating little change in the conflict’s trajectory. In Kyiv itself, Reuters witnesses observed explosions and sustained heavy machine-gun fire as air defense units engaged drones over the capital, while Russian shelling claimed five lives in the eastern part of the country.
“I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” Trump told reporters in brief comments at an air base outside Washington, before departing for a campaign-style event in Iowa.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy informed reporters in Denmark earlier on Thursday that he hopes to speak with Trump as early as Friday regarding the ongoing pause in certain weapons shipments, a development first disclosed earlier this week.
Speaking to reporters as he left Washington for Iowa, Trump stated that the weapons flow had “not” been completely paused, but he attributed the issue to his predecessor, Joe Biden, for sending so many weapons that it risked weakening US defenses. “We’re giving weapons, but we’ve given so many weapons. But we are giving weapons. And we’re working with them and trying to help them, but we haven’t. You know, Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves,” he said.
This diplomatic exchange occurs as the US has halted shipments of certain critical weapons to Ukraine due to low stockpiles, sources earlier told Reuters. This pause comes precisely as Ukraine faces a Russian summer offensive and increasingly frequent attacks on civilian targets.
Putin, for his part, has consistently maintained that his invasion will only cease if the conflict’s “root causes” are addressed – a Russian shorthand referring to the issue of NATO enlargement and Western support for Ukraine, including the rejection of any notion of Ukraine joining the NATO alliance. NATO leaders have also indicated that Russian leaders are aiming to establish greater control over political decisions made in Kyiv and other Eastern European capitals.
The pause in US weapons shipments caught Ukraine off guard and has generated widespread confusion regarding Trump’s current stance on the conflict, especially given his statement just last week that he would try to free up a Patriot missile defense system for use by Kyiv.
Ukrainian leaders summoned the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to emphasize the importance of military aid from Washington and to caution that the pause in US weapons shipments would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend against intensifying Russian air strikes and battlefield advances. Reuters reported on Wednesday that the Pentagon’s decision has resulted in a cut in deliveries of the Patriot defense missiles that Ukraine relies on to intercept fast-moving ballistic missiles.
Ushakov, the Kremlin aide, noted that while Russia is open to continuing discussions with the US, any peace negotiations would need to occur directly between Moscow and Kyiv. This comment comes amid indications that Moscow is attempting to avoid a trilateral format for any potential peace negotiations. Ukrainian officials have stated that Russian diplomats requested American diplomats to leave the room during such a meeting in Istanbul in early June.
Ushakov confirmed that Trump and Putin did not discuss a face-to-face meeting.
