U.S. President Trump answered reporters’ questions at an airport before leaving Washington for Texas. Assessing his phone call with Putin, Trump said the Russian president wants to reach a deal.
Trump said it would be positive if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also sought an agreement. He attributed the two leaders’ failure to reach an understanding so far to their hatred of each other.
Trump said he had spoken with both Putin and Zelenskyy to reach a peace deal and expressed openness to the two leaders holding direct talks.
Kremlin Foreign Policy Adviser Yuriy Ushakov said the Ukraine crisis was discussed during the phone call between Putin and Trump. Describing the approximately one-hour conversation as constructive and candid, Ushakov said Trump’s special representatives, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, also briefed the leaders on their contacts in Moscow and Kyiv.
Ushakov said the visits by the American representatives had been positively received and that work would continue through these and other channels.