President Donald Trump spoke by phone for over an hour on Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussing the war in Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East, including Iran, according to Russian officials. The call followed a U.S. decision to halt weapons shipments to Ukraine and amid growing questions about Trump's stalled diplomatic push to end the Ukraine conflict.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov described the conversation as "detailed," stating the two leaders discussed the "Iranian issue" and that Putin "stressed that the Iranian issue must be settled only through diplomacy." Trump did not issue a public statement on the call, and the White House declined to comment on how the president responded to Putin's refusal to end the Ukraine war.
Putin made clear to Trump that Russia would not retreat from its objectives in Ukraine. "Russia will achieve the goals it has set: that is the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs," Ushakov said in the Kremlin's readout. "Russia will not back down from these goals."
Despite Trump's repeated pledges to bring an end to the Ukraine conflict quickly, including campaign promises to secure peace within 24 hours, progress has remained elusive. Putin emphasized that negotiations with Ukraine were a "bilateral issue" and that Moscow does not see a role for Washington in the peace process.
The timing of the call was significant. It came just two days after the Pentagon paused previously scheduled shipments of air defense missiles and other military support to Ukraine, citing concerns about dwindling U.S. stockpiles. The suspension included weapons already staged in Poland and ready for transfer, raising concerns among analysts that it might embolden Moscow.
"The Russian side emphasized the importance of resolving all disputes, disagreements and conflict situations exclusively by political and diplomatic means," Ushakov added, referring to recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and the broader conflict in the Middle East.
