US President Donald Trump, after a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, said he didn’t make any progress at all on the efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war. A Kremlin aide said the president reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict’s root causes.
“I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” Trump told reporters.
The phone call took place as diplomatic efforts from the US to resolve the situation have largely stalled, with Trump facing increasing pressure to push Putin to negotiate more earnestly.
The discussion did not include recent pauses in US weapon shipments to Ukraine, a decision that has caught Ukrainian leaders off-guard amid the intensified Russian offensive. The pause, attributed to low stockpiles, has led to concerns over Ukraine’s ability to defend against Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Trump, addressing reporters, criticised his predecessor Joe Biden for excessive arms transfers, stating, “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.”
In Ukraine, the situation remains dire, with reports of drone attacks and shelling leading to casualties. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed intentions to discuss the US weapon shipment pause with Trump, highlighting concerns over the impact on Ukraine’s defence capabilities.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov conveyed that Putin remains focused on addressing the conflict’s “root causes,” a term that often refers to issues such as NATO enlargement and Western support for Ukraine. This stance has been a consistent point of contention in diplomatic discussions.
The Kremlin seems to be avoiding trilateral negotiations, pushing for talks directly between Moscow and Kyiv instead. Attempts for such peace talks in Istanbul saw American diplomats being asked to leave by the Russians, indicating a preference for bilateral dialogue.
Meanwhile, NATO has raised concerns about Russia’s attempts to exert greater control over political decisions in Kyiv and other Eastern European capitals, a move seen as part of broader geopolitical ambitions.
