United States President, Donald Trump, engaged in a crucial call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday as Washington continues efforts to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine.
A White House statement summarizing the discussion indicated that Putin backed Trump’s proposal for a mutual pause on energy infrastructure attacks but did not commit to the broader 30-day truce Ukraine accepted last week.
“Both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting peace,” the White House readout noted. “They also stressed the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia. The blood and treasure that both Ukraine and Russia have been spending in this war would be better spent on the needs of their people.”
The White House further stated, “This conflict should never have started and should have been ended long ago with sincere and good faith peace efforts.
The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace. These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East.”
Beyond Ukraine, Trump and Putin also discussed broader Middle East dynamics, including Iran.
“The two leaders agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has huge upside,” the statement continued. “This includes enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved.”
The conversation between the two leaders lasted approximately 2.5 hours, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, as reported by Russian state media outlet Tass.
The Kremlin’s own summary of the call, shared through state media, confirmed that Putin “supported” Trump’s idea of temporarily halting energy infrastructure strikes in both Russia and Ukraine.
However, when it came to Trump’s broader proposal for a monthlong truce, the Kremlin highlighted key concerns. “The Russian side has identified a number of significant issues related to ensuring effective control over a possible ceasefire along the entire line of contact, the need to stop forced mobilization in Ukraine and the rearmament of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the statement read.
Putin also emphasized that an end to the conflict should require “the complete cessation of foreign military assistance and the provision of intelligence information to Kiev,” according to the Kremlin.
The Trump administration had previously halted military aid and paused intelligence-sharing with Ukraine following a tense Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
These measures were later reinstated after Ukraine accepted the ceasefire proposal last Tuesday.
While Kyiv has agreed to the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, Ukrainian officials insist that any further agreement must receive their approval.
A Ukrainian government source told ABC News before the Trump-Putin call that Zelenskyy was closely following the conversation with both caution and interest.
“We agreed to the U.S. ceasefire proposal with zero conditions, and if Putin is gonna start playing with Trump setting demands — it will not work,” the source emphasized.
