US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Tuesday in what both sides described as a constructive and frank hour-long conversation focused on the war in Ukraine.
The call came days after US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held separate meetings with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend to discuss what Trump has described as "a proposal to end the war."
Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yury Ushakov, told reporters the two leaders had a "constructive and quite frank" exchange. The Kremlin separately described the call as "extremely frank."
Ushakov said Putin briefed Trump on Russia's military objectives in Ukraine. "An objective and thorough analysis of the ongoing special military operation and generally our view of prospective battlefield advances and the achievement of the special military operation's goals and tasks was given," Ushakov said.
The adviser added that Putin addressed growing concern about potential Russian aggression toward European countries, including NATO members. "It was underlined that we don't have any aggressive plans regarding Europe," Ushakov said.
Ushakov also told reporters that Putin and Trump "exchanged views on the outcome of the visits," saying some "very good, worthwhile ideas" were presented by the US envoys.
Despite being welcomed by all sides, the weekend meetings appeared to produce no breakthrough. After a brief truce during the negotiations, both countries resumed strikes.
Ukrainian officials said Russian attacks on Tuesday morning killed at least five civilians and wounded 25 others in Kyiv. Russian officials reported three people killed in the Bryansk and Kursk regions, with 13 others wounded. Ukrainian strikes on Russian-annexed Crimea also killed approximately five people, according to local authorities.
Following his Sunday meeting with the US envoys, Zelenskyy thanked Trump for sending the delegation. "It is very important that the delegation has arrived to see us. We have been waiting a long time for Steve and Jared, Witkoff and Kushner," Zelenskyy said. "To us, it is very important to do everything so that this war ends," he added.
Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine a central priority of his second administration. He pledged during his campaign that he could achieve a settlement within 24 hours, a claim he later walked back, calling it an exaggeration.
The Trump administration has faced criticism for pursuing peace negotiations without fully involving Ukrainian and European officials. Trump and Zelenskyy are expected to meet later this month, according to Ukrainian officials.
