Trump says he is prepared to help end Ukraine war after call with Putin, as Iran talks continue
Donald Trump has said he is prepared to help end Russia's war in Ukraine after a phone call with Vladimir Putin, according to Russian state reporting cited by a Putin adviser. The call, which lasted about an hour, was described by Yuri Ushakov as "friendly and frank". It came as Trump also said the United States is nearing a peace deal with Iran.
Sponsored
Ushakov said Trump told Putin that ending the war in Ukraine was critical and that he was ready to help. He also said Trump informed the Russian president that the US was close to a deal with Iran, while the conflict involving Iran continued. Putin, in turn, wished Trump a happy 80th birthday in an informal manner, according to the same account.
The latest comments add to a day of overlapping diplomacy involving Trump, Moscow and Kyiv. Fighting in Ukraine has continued for more than four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and peace negotiations have largely been on pause. Trump officials have recently said they want the war to end as quickly as possible, underscoring the significance of any direct contact between the US president and the Russian leader.
Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky each held separate phone calls with US President Donald Trump on Sunday, with the war in Ukraine and possible ways to end it at the centre of the discussions. The calls came as Trump marked his 80th birthday and as leaders prepared for this week's G7 summit, where the conflict is expected to remain a major topic. The exchanges add a fresh diplomatic layer to efforts to find a settlement in a war that has now lasted more than four years.
Sponsored
According to a briefing from the Kremlin, Putin's call with Trump lasted just under an hour. Russian officials said Trump stressed the need to end hostilities and said he was ready to influence European allies and Kyiv toward that goal, including at the G7 meeting. The same account said Trump also raised the issue of recent strikes on civilian targets in Russia, which he said complicated a settlement, although the White House has not confirmed those remarks or commented on the call.
The Kremlin said Putin told Trump that attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure by Kyiv would not change the battlefield situation. Putin also said that if Zelensky wanted a meeting with him, he should come to Moscow, according to the Russian account. Separately, Zelensky said in a statement on Telegram that he had a "wonderful conversation" with Trump and thanked him for supporting Ukraine.
He said they discussed "what could help bring peace closer now" and that he had updated Trump on Ukraine's position along the eastern front line. The calls matter because they come at a moment when diplomacy around the war is again being tested alongside battlefield pressure. The G7 summit is likely to be one of the main international forums where Ukraine's allies discuss military support, sanctions and the prospects for negotiations.
Any direct engagement involving Trump, Putin and Zelensky is significant because each has a different role in shaping the terms of any future ceasefire or broader settlement. The war in Ukraine has remained a central issue in relations between Russia, Ukraine and Western governments since the full-scale invasion more than four years ago. The latest calls suggest that back-channel and leader-level diplomacy is continuing even as fighting and strikes persist.
Sponsored
Russian officials also said US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to travel to Russia soon, indicating that further contacts may follow. What remains unclear is whether the separate calls will lead to any concrete movement toward talks between Moscow and Kyiv. The White House has not publicly confirmed the details of the Kremlin's account, and Zelensky did not provide specifics beyond saying more would be discussed at the G7 summit.
The next key point to watch is whether the summit produces any clearer sign of a negotiated path, or whether the exchanges remain limited to signalling and positioning.
Sponsored
