 "Russia won't back down from Ukraine war objectives: Putin tells Trump")
Russian President Vladimir Putin told his American counterpart Donald Trump that Russia would not step back from its original goals during a telephone conversation the two leaders had on Thursday, Reuters reported. However, he was open to a negotiated end to the war with Ukraine, a Kremlin aide was quoted as saying.
"Our president also said that Russia will achieve the goals it has set: that is, the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs, to the current acute confrontation, and Russia will not back down from these goals," Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov said.
In a wide-ranging conversation that also covered Iran and West Asia, Trump "again raised the issue of an early end to military action" in Ukraine, Ushakov told reporters. On Iran, he said, "the Russian side emphasised the importance of resolving all disputes, disagreements and conflict situations exclusively by political and diplomatic means."
Earlier in the day, Trump, in a post on Truth Social, had announced, “Will be speaking to President Putin of Russia at 10:00 a.m. Thank you!” Meanwhile, Putin rushed out of a plenary session to attend the call. He apologised to the host and the crowd and announced that he was going to have a phone call with Trump, requesting the audience, "Please, don't be angry. I understand that we could talk more, but it's so awkward to make [Trump] wait, he could get offended," according to video footage released by Russia Today.
This was the two leaders’ sixth publicly known conversation since Trump’s inauguration in January. In their last phone call, held a month ago, Trump and Putin also spoke about rising tensions in West Asia, including the Israel–Iran conflict. Russia, a close partner of Iran, has offered to mediate in the region.
Pause in weapons supply surprises US allies
According to a Bloomberg report quoting sources, Trump may also speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday. These discussions come shortly after the US administration unexpectedly paused shipments of key military aid to Ukraine, including artillery shells and air-defence systems.
Earlier this week, the White House suspended deliveries of 155 mm artillery rounds and Patriot air-defence systems — essential supplies for Ukraine’s defence against Russian missile and drone attacks. The decision, as per media reports, surprised both Kyiv and its Western allies. The pause followed a review of US stockpiles, which found that reserves had dropped to concerning levels, said the Bloomberg report.
The US president has also signalled that current American military assistance to Ukraine will not be extended beyond this summer.