Trump, disappointed by call with Putin, to speak with Zelensky on July 4
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A call between US President Donald Trump (left) and Russian leader Vladimir Putin on July 3 covered Russia's invasion of Ukraine, issues around Iran, and the Middle East.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
- Putin told Trump Russia seeks a negotiated end to the Ukraine war, referencing prisoner exchanges agreed in June.
- Putin stated that Russia intends to achieve its original goals in Ukraine, addressing the "root causes" of the conflict.
- The Kremlin readout contained no indication of a shift in Moscow's position, despite Trump's desire to quickly end the war.
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MOSCOW - US President Donald Trump said early on July 4 he came away disappointed from a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin because it does not appear the latter is looking to stop Russia’s war against Ukraine.
US attempts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine through diplomacy have largely stalled, and Mr Trump has faced growing calls - including from some Republicans - to increase pressure on Mr Putin to negotiate in earnest.
After speaking to Mr Putin on July 3, Trump plans to speak to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 4, he said in remarks to reporters on his return to Washington from a trip to Iowa.
“I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don’t think he’s there, and I’m very disappointed,” Mr Trump said.
“I’m just saying I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.”
The two leaders did not discuss a recent pause in some US weapons shipments to Kyiv
Within hours of the call, an apparent Russian drone attack sparked a fire in an apartment building in a northern suburb of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said, indicating little change in the trajectory of the conflict immediately after the call.
In Kyiv itself, Reuters witnesses reported explosions and sustained heavy machine gun fire as air defence units battled drones over the capital.
“I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” Mr Trump told reporters on July 3.
Mr Zelensky, meanwhile, told reporters in Denmark that he hopes to speak to Mr Trump as soon as July 4 about the pause in some weapons shipments first disclosed this week.
Mr Trump, speaking to reporters as he left Washington for Iowa, said “we haven’t” completely paused the weapons flow but blamed his predecessor, Mr Joe Biden, for sending so many weapons that it risked weakening US defences.
“We’re giving weapons, but we’ve given so many weapons. But we are giving weapons,” he said.
“And we’re working with them and trying to help them, but we haven’t (completely stopped). You know, Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves,” he said.
The diplomatic back-and-forth comes as the US has paused shipments of certain critical weapons to Ukraine due to low stockpiles, sources earlier told Reuters, just as Ukraine faces a Russian summer offensive and frequent attacks on civilian targets.
Mr Putin, for his part, has continued to assert he will stop his invasion only if the conflict’s “root causes” have been tackled, making use of Russian shorthand for the issue of Nato enlargement and Western support for Ukraine, including the rejection of any notion of Ukraine joining the Nato alliance.
Russian leaders are also angling to establish greater control over political decisions made in Kyiv and other eastern European capitals, Nato leaders have said.
The pause in US weapons shipments caught Ukraine off-guard and has generated widespread confusion about Mr Trump’s current views on the conflict, after saying just last week he would try to free up a Patriot missile defense system
Ukrainian leaders called in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on July 2 to underline the importance of military aid from Washington, and caution that the pause would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend against intensifying Russian air strikes and battlefield advances.
The Pentagon’s move has meant a cut in deliveries of Patriot air defence missiles that Ukraine relies on to destroy fast-moving ballistic missiles, Reuters reported on July 2.
Mr Ushakov, the Kremlin aide, said the issue of weapons deliveries to Ukraine did not come up during the Trump-Putin phone call.
Mr Ushakov added that while Russia was open to continuing to speak with the US, any peace negotiations needed to occur between Moscow and Kyiv.
That comment comes amid some signs that Moscow is trying to avoid a trilateral format for any peace negotiations. The Russians asked American diplomats to leave the room during such a meeting in Istanbul in early June, Ukrainian officials have said.
Mr Trump and Mr Putin did not talk about a face-to-face meeting, Mr Ushakov said. REUTERS
