US President Donald Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone on Friday. According to The Kyiv Independent, Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, described the 40-minute conversation as “very important and substantive.”
Aside from Zelensky, Trump also had a call with Vladimir Putin on Thursday. He told reporters that no progress had been made on declaring a ceasefire in Ukraine during his phone call with the Russian President.
“I am very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin,” Trump told reporters and added “Because I don’t think he’s there. I’m very disappointed. I don’t think he wants to stop this war.”
Notably, this was the sixth telephone conversation between the two leaders since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. It lasted about an hour and was described as “candid” by Kremlin diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov.
What did Putin and Trump discuss on their call?
Trump discussed with Putin the need to find a solution to end the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported, citing Putin’s close aide Yuri Ushakov. He added that the two leaders agreed to stay in touch but didn’t discuss meeting in person.
Additionally, Putin’s aide noted that the Russian President did not discuss bringing an end to US weapons deliveries to Ukraine with his American counterpart. The two Presidents expressed mutual interest in implementing promising economic projects, primarily in the fields of energy and space research.
President Putin then wished Trump well for the upcoming July 4 Independence Day holiday and emphasized Russia’s role in shaping the US nation.
“We are not backing down in Ukraine,” said the Russian President
A Kremlin advisor mentioned that Putin informed Trump during their call that Moscow would not back down from its goals in Ukraine but remains interested in negotiating a settlement to the conflict with Zelensky’s administration.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Trump floated the idea of quickly ending the war during his conversation with Putin. The Russian President stated that Russia is ready to continue negotiations but remains focused on eliminating the “root causes” of the conflict, which is now in its fourth year.
According to Ushakov, the two leaders discussed developments in the Middle East and Iran. Putin emphasized the importance of resolving the Ukrainian issue through diplomacy and reiterated to Trump the importance of resolving the issue through exclusively diplomatic means.
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