Image Credit: Joe Raedle / Staff / Getty 
On Thursday President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding bringing an end to the Ukraine war. During the nearly hour-long call, the two discussed what was described as a “negotiated solution” although the conversation may not have changed much in the grand scheme of things.
According to senior Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, the two world leaders discussed a number of topics including their intention to seek a negotiated solution to the conflict and bringing the war to swift halt. Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine.
Putin insisted that Moscow “will achieve its goal of removing root issues that led to Ukraine conflict” and “will not step back from its goals.”
“Our President also said that Russia will achieve the goals it has set: that is, the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs, to the current acute confrontation and Russia will not back down from these goals,” Ushakov said.
Interestingly, it was reported that Russia’s position is “that Ukraine peace talks are between Moscow and Kiev,” despite Putin previously saying he will not make deals with the illegitimate government of Kiev, before backtracking on that position.
The two leaders also had “a detailed discussion” on Iran and the Middle East. They agreed they would continue discussions going forward.
The call may not have changed much in the grand scheme of things, however.
There was nothing in the Kremlin readout to suggest that Putin had made any shift in Moscow’s position during the conversation with the U.S. president.
Indeed, the phrase “root causes” is shorthand for the Kremlin’s argument that it was compelled to go to war in Ukraine to prevent the country from joining Nato and being used by the western alliance as a launch pad to attack Russia.
Direct negotiation meetings between Moscow and Kiev were discussed on the call. Currently, the Kremlin seeks to hold a third round of talks. The second meeting being largely a failure and the first meeting only consisting of diplomats who discussed setting up the second meeting.
The timing of the call is notable as on Tuesday it was reported that U.S. military aid to Ukraine has been halted, although Kiev received no official notification of the move. This topic was not discussed during the Trump / Putin call.
Thursday’s discussion was the sixth publicly disclosed talk the two had since Trump returned to office. During the call the two did not talk about a future face-to-face meeting.
Putin made his announcement of the call while touring an exhibition in Moscow showcasing emerging Russian brands, adding that he “will definitely suggest that he use this material to promote it on the American market.”
The President announced the call as well.
On June 25 Donald Trump met with Ukrainian Dictator Vladimir Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit at The Hague in Holland. At a press conference after attending the summit, Trump said Zelensky will like to end his war and that he will speak to Putin about it soon.
“Look, Vladimir Putin really has to end that war,” Trump said last week.
On Tuesday an unexpected phone call took place between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron. The conversation marked the first time since September 2022 that the two leaders spoke. While the heads-of-state found common ground over the Iran conflict, they still held disagreements over the Ukraine conflict, although both showed an inclination toward a peaceful end to the hostilities.
