President Trump voiced his disappointment with Russian leader Vladimir Putin early Friday, acknowledging that the Kremlin strongman shows no signs of ending his brutal war against Ukraine anytime soon.
“I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had [Thursday] with President Putin because I don’t think he’s there. I’m just saying, I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad,” Trump told reporters upon returning to Washington from a pre-Independence Day event in Iowa.
“It’s [former President Joe] Biden’s war, and I got stuck in the middle of it, just like I did with immigration and a lot of other things that they screwed up,” he continued. “But I was not happy with the conversation.”
According to a Kremlin readout, Putin told Trump during their roughly hour-long call that Russia “will not back down” from achieving the “goals” of its invasion. Moscow has demanded that any peace agreement with Ukraine recognize its troop advances in the eastern Donbas region — a demand Kyiv has called a red line. Russia has also repeatedly rejected cease-fire proposals from the US and Europe, even though Ukraine has been open to those initiatives.
Before leaving for Iowa, Trump admitted that “I didn’t make any progress” with Putin “at all.”
Earlier this week, the White House confirmed it had paused shipments of missiles and other critical supplies to Ukraine while reviewing US stockpiles.
“Biden emptied out our whole country, giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves,” Trump, the 47th president, argued.
“We’ve given so many weapons, but we are giving weapons, and we’re working with them and trying to help them.”
Last week, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague and later suggested he was “going to see” if the US could supply Patriot missile systems to Ukraine. Trump also spoke to Zelensky again on Friday before heading for a round of golf at his northern Virginia club.
“We — in Ukraine — are grateful for all the support provided. It helps us protect lives, safeguard our freedom and independence,” Zelensky wrote on X. “President Trump is very well informed, and I thank him for his attention to Ukraine.”
“We spoke about opportunities in air defense and agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies. We have also agreed to a meeting between our teams.”
Overnight, Russia launched more than 500 drones and 11 missiles against Ukraine, setting a new record for the largest aerial attack on Kyiv. At least 23 people were injured in the onslaught.
Meanwhile, bipartisan pressure has been building in Washington to push through a sanctions package aimed at further tightening restrictions on Moscow.
So far, however, the Trump administration has urged lawmakers to soften those penalties to avoid endangering possible peace negotiations with Russia.
