Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president Donald Trump held a one-hour phone call on Tuesday, discussing the outcome of recent visits by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv as Washington seeks to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov described the conversation as “constructive and frank” and said Trump stressed his desire for the war in Ukraine to end as soon as possible, Reuters reported.Ushakov said Putin briefed Trump on the situation on the battlefield and told him what the United States could do to help end the conflict. He also said Putin assured Trump that Russia had no aggressive intentions towards European countries.“In view of the speculation about Russia’s alleged hostile intentions toward European countries, it was underlined that we don’t have any aggressive plans regarding Europe,” Ushakov told reporters.The call came after Witkoff and Kushner held separate meetings with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during visits to Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend.According to Ushakov, Putin viewed the outcome of the US envoys’ visit to Moscow positively. Zelenskyy also said the American envoys had presented some “very good, worthwhile ideas” for ending the war.“As for the peace package that Kushner spoke about and the new ideas, I’ll tell you frankly, there were indeed a couple of very good, worthwhile ideas,” Zelenskyy said in audio messages answering reporters’ questions.
Zelenskyy seeks meeting with Trump
Zelenskyy said he hoped to meet Trump around September 20, when the UN General Assembly is due to be held in New York.He indicated that securing additional Patriot air defence systems would be among his priorities in discussions with the US president, as Ukraine seeks to counter Russian ballistic missile and drone attacks.Ukraine needs 300 Patriot missiles from partners’ stocks, 500 air-to-air interceptors and $2 billion for additional drones, according to UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, who spoke at a meeting of countries supporting Ukraine.The European Commission also approved a 3.2 billion euro ($3.7 billion) loan for Kyiv to purchase components for Patriot air defence systems, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said.Zelenskyy said negotiations between Ukraine, Russia and the US could resume in the autumn, while indicating that Kyiv was prepared to seek compromises on issues including grain exports and energy.
Moscow says victory is close
Despite renewed diplomatic efforts, Russia has continued to signal that it believes it can achieve its military objectives.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia remained determined to accomplish its military goals and believed “victory is very close” on the battlefield.“We’re very confident in our military potential,” Peskov told reporters, while saying Moscow wanted a peaceful solution and welcomed Trump’s diplomatic efforts.Ushakov said Putin had briefed Trump on Russia’s plans to make further battlefield gains and achieve its military objectives.The comments come as Russian and Ukrainian forces remain locked in fighting along a roughly 1,250-kilometre front line. Western officials and analysts say Russia has struggled to make significant progress despite having a larger army.The Institute for the Study of War said Sunday that Russia’s advance had slowed significantly since 2025.“Russian forces will not seize Donetsk … until 2032 at their current rate of advance — if they can seize it at all,” the Washington-based think tank said. “The Russian rate of advance has slowed significantly across the theater since 2025, when Russia’s rate of advance had already begun to slow.”
