Putin, Zelensky call Trump on his birthday amid stalled peace talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky each spoke by phone with President Trump on Sunday, coming as the president celebrated his 80th birthday ahead of the Group of Seven summit this week.

Trump has stepped back from mediating talks between Russia and Ukraine in the midst of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. He was unable to achieve any significant breakthroughs despite months of trying.

Putin’s call with the president lasted just less than an hour, the Kremlin said in a statement, and the Russian leader extended glowing remarks to Trump on his birthday.

“You are a truly remarkable and extraordinary person and politician,” Putin said in a statement.

The Kremlin said the two leaders discussed Iran, with Trump saying an agreement with Iran was close. Trump on Sunday night said a deal with Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was done.

Putin aide Yury Ushakov said that Trump raised the necessity of a ceasefire in Russia’s more than four-year war with Ukraine, adding he “is ready to influence” European partners and Kyiv during meetings at the G7 summit, taking place in France on Monday.

Ushakov said that Trump’s special envoy for peace missions, Steve Witkoff, and the president’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner will travel to Russia “in the near future.”

“President Trump also said that sooner completion of the war could open up prospects for giving Russia-US relations a new quality,” Ushakov said in the statement.

Zelensky, speaking with Trump on Sunday, said he congratulated the president on his birthday and engaged in a “detailed discussion.”

Zelensky said he thanked Trump for all his work to end Russia’s war against Ukraine and “for all the support America has been providing to Ukraine, and it does matter that we remember with gratitude every step of that support — from Javelins to Patriots.”

Zelensky said he briefed Trump on how Ukraine has strengthened its position on the battlefield against Russia, with the two leaders agreeing to speak further at the G7 summit on how to “advance peace and protect lives.”

Trump had said on the 2024 campaign trail that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war within “one day” of returning to office, but he has struggled over the course of his first term to get Putin to agree to any significant concessions to end the war.

The battlefield has shifted in recent months, with Ukraine gaining more territory than it has lost, but Russia has pummeled the country with missile and drone barrages, taking advantage of Ukraine’s weakening air defenses.

Zelensky has publicly pleaded to Trump for U.S. patriot interceptors as the key defense against Russian ballistic missiles.

View original source — The Hill ↗

ShareShare on X Share on Facebook