Trump says he "didn't make any progress" with Putin following phone call
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U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on July 3 that he “didn’t make any progress” on ending the war in Ukraine during his call with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the day.
“We had a call. It was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things,” Trump said ahead of his flight to an Iowa event.
When asked if he had made any progress with Putin on the call, Trump responded: “No, I didn’t make any progress with him today at all."
The two leaders held an hour-long conversation early in the on July 3 focused on Russia’s war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East. The call marks the sixth conversation between the two men since Trump took office in January.
Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters earlier in the day that Putin said “Russia will continue to pursue its goals” in the war against Ukraine.
“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 added.
The White House did not provide a read out of the meeting, and Trump did not provide further comment on the phone call.
Since taking office, Trump has attempted to broker a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia to no avail. Despite two rounds of negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, Putin has refused to implement a ceasefire, citing his maximalist demands.
While Trump has expressed frustration with Russia’s continued aggression, his administration has not imposed new sanctions nor taken steps to pressure the Kremlin directly.
Putin’s message came amid a surge of Russian drone and missile attacks across Ukraine that have killed and injured hundreds of civilians in recent weeks.
The strikes have destroyed numerous infrastructure as Russia intensifies its assault despite repeated calls from Kyiv, Washington, and European leaders for an unconditional ceasefire.
The phone call also came just a day after the U.S. Defense Department paused shipments of key weapons systems to Ukraine, including Patriot air defense missiles and precision-guided munitions. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has warned that the delay undermines defense efforts and risks emboldening Russia to escalate further.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking from Denmark earlier in the day, said that achieving peace would require direct talks between national leaders.
The president described Trump and Putin as “completely different people” but emphasized that only Putin makes decisions in Russia.
“In Russia, only Putin makes decisions, which is why we need a meeting at the leadership level if we want to have peace,” Zelensky said.
