US President Donald Trump said he was disappointed after his latest conversation with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin because it did not seem like Putin wanted to end the war in Ukraine, Reuters reports.
American efforts to end Russia’s aggression in Ukraine have stalled, and Trump is increasingly receiving calls, including from the Republican Party, to increase pressure on Putin to at least show a willingness to talk. After the conversation with Putin, Trump plans to contact Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Returning from a visit to Iowa, Trump told reporters that he was very disappointed with the conversation that he had with President Putin, because it doesn’t look like Putin is ready. Trump said: “I’m just saying I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.”
Trump did not discuss the interruption of arms supplies to Kyiv during the nearly hour-long conversation with Putin. Just hours after the two spoke, a Russian drone set fire to an apartment building in the southern suburbs of Kyiv. Explosions and the sounds of air defense systems could also be heard in Kyiv. Five people were killed in Russian strikes overnight.
Trump told reporters that no progress had been made in talks with Putin,
while Zelensky expressed hope to contact the US president as early as the 4th of July to discuss the reduction in arms supplies. Trump said that arms supplies had not been completely stopped, but the US first needed to understand how much it could give without depleting its own defense capabilities. He blamed former US President Joe Biden for overly generous arms supplies that had “left the US empty.”
Meanwhile, Putin continues to insist that he will stop the aggression only when the conflict is addressed at its root, that is, by halting NATO expansion, ceasing support for Ukraine, and abandoning any plans for Ukraine to join the alliance. NATO leaders have indicated that Russia wants to gain greater influence in both Kyiv and other Eastern European capitals.
The Russian side has indicated that it is ready for talks, but its actions do not indicate this. Moscow has actively avoided trilateral talks, and in early June, when meeting in Istanbul, the Russians ordered US diplomats to leave the room.
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