U.S. President Donald Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin that a swift resolution to the Ukraine war could pave the way for the countries to fully restore trade and economic ties, according to a Kremlin readout of a call between the two leaders.
Trump and Putin were said to have exchanged views on the results of the recent visits to Moscow and Kyiv by U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have sought to revive stalled diplomatic talks to bring an end to the conflict.
Russia has resumed air attacks on major Ukrainian cities after a brief pause for the visit of U.S. peace negotiators over the weekend. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that there has been “too little response” from the international community to the latest deadly strikes.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Trump and Putin spoke to each other for exactly one hour on Tuesday, describing the conversation as “constructive and very candid,” according to Russia’s Tass news agency.
Trump made clear that he wanted the Ukraine war to come to an end “as soon as possible,” Ushakov said, adding that Putin gave Trump an “objective and thorough” analysis of what Russia characterizes as its special military operation.
Trump said a swift end to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine “would immediately open up impressive and far-reaching prospects for relations between the US and Russia to be fully restored,” Ushakov said.
Putin also shared his view on what the American side could do to help quickly end military operations in Ukraine and dismissed speculation about a Russian threat to European nations, Ushakov added.
A spokesperson for the White House was not immediately available to comment when contacted by CNBC on Wednesday morning.
The conversation marked Putin’s fifth call with Trump this year and the 15th between the two leaders since the U.S. president took office in early 2025, according to Tass’ calculations.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the upcoming winter period, calling on further support from allies to provide urgently needed interceptor missiles.
Russian forces have ramped up the number of missile strikes on Ukrainian cities as Kyiv faces a shortage of air defense equipment.
Ukraine, for its part, has pursued long-range drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and logistics hubs, seeking to raise the cost of the war for Moscow and test Putin’s resolve after more than four-and-a-half years of conflict.
Source: CNBC