US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he hadn’t made any progress regarding a potential ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine conflict following his telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.When questioned about his discussion with Putin, Trump confirmed to journalists, “No, I didn’t make any progress with him today at all.”Trump elaborated on the conversation, stating, “We had a call. It was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things, including Iran, and we also talked about, as you know, the war with Ukraine. And I’m not happy about that, I’m not happy.”“We had a call. It was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things, including Iran. We also talked about the war with Ukraine. I am not happy about that… No, I didn’t make any progress with him (Russian President Putin) today…” he said in brief comments at an air base outside Washington, before departing for a campaign-style event in Iowa.
Russia will ‘not back down’ to solve conflict’s ‘root causes’
According to Putin’s aide Yury Ushakov’s summary, the leaders engaged in a “frank and substantive” discussion. Whilst Trump suggested an immediate ceasefire in Russia’s Ukrainian campaign, Putin declined. Ushakov noted that Putin affirmed Russia’s commitment to its objectives in the conflict, whilst remaining open to resolving the situation through diplomatic channels.“Our president said that Russia will pursue its goals, specifically addressing the root causes that led to the current situation, and will not back down from these objectives,” Ushakov said.During an extensive, 60-minute conversation centred on the Ukrainian conflict and Middle Eastern developments, Trump reiterated his position on seeking an early conclusion to the military operations in Ukraine. This marked the sixth communication between Putin and Trump this year.“Trump once again emphasized the need to end military hostilities as soon as possible. Vladimir Putin noted that Russia continues to seek a politically negotiated solution to the conflict,” Ushakov added.The Kremlin indicated that Putin updated Trump regarding the progress of agreements between Russia and Ukraine from the previous month, concerning prisoner of war exchanges and deceased military personnel. Putin expressed Russia’s openness to re-engage in discussions with Kyiv.Ushakov stated that their president reaffirmed Russia’s determination to accomplish its established objectives, particularly addressing the underlying causes of the present confrontation, maintaining an unwavering position on these aims.This communication occurred while Russia intensified its unmanned aerial vehicle and missile attacks across Ukraine in recent weeks and the US has paused shipments of certain critical weapons to Ukraine due to low stockpiles.
‘We haven’t fully stopped supply’: Trump
Trump addressed reporters while departing for Iowa, stating “we haven’t” fully stopped the weapons supply, while criticising Joe Biden for allegedly depleting American defence resources through excessive weapons transfers.“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,” he remarked.This exchange of diplomatic statements emerges amidst reports that the US has temporarily halted deliveries of specific crucial weapons to Ukraine, as sources informed Reuters. This pause occurs at a critical moment when Ukraine confronts a Russian summer offensive and faces growing attacks on civilian areas.
