President Trump spoke by phone with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin for about an hour Thursday, but there was no sign of any breakthrough toward ending the war in Ukraine.
Putin rebuffed Trump’s call for an “early end to hostilities,” and instead insisted Russia wouldn’t abandon its “war goals” in invading its neighbor three years ago, a Kremlin spokesman said.
The call comes just days after the U.S. announced a pause in deliveries of some defense weaponry to embattled Ukraine, including air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other equipment.
The pause would likely be welcomed by Putin as Russia presses its advantage on the battlefield although the Kremlin said it didn’t come up during the call with Trump.
The chat was the leaders’ second in a month and the sixth publicly disclosed chat since Trump returned to the White House this year.
Their previous publicly known call came June 14, a day after Israel attacked Iran.
Trump and Putin make no secret of their desire to repair U.S.-Russian ties that have plummeted to their lowest point since Putin invaded Ukraine.
The U.S. pause on defense assistance to Ukraine comes as Russia presses its invasion of Ukraine across the front lines and with heightened barrages of missiles and drone attacks on civilian targets.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Washington and Kyiv are “clarifying all the details of defense support, including air defense.”
“One way or another, we must ensure protection for our people,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump famously claimed during his presidential campaign that he could end the war in a day but later said he was only joking.
He mostly blames Zelenskyy for the continuing fighting even though Putin has snubbed his demand for a ceasefire.
