Trump says he "didn't make any progress" with Putin in Ukraine conversation
Washington — President Trump told reporters he's "very disappointed" with his Thursday conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he "didn't make any progress with him" during the call.
The Trump-Putin call came after the White House said the U.S. is halting some weapons shipments to Ukraine. The Trump administration said the decision was made after a Pentagon review of U.S. military support and assistance to other countries. The pause was put in place because of concerns that U.S. military stockpiles were falling too low, a U.S. official said.
Mr. Trump also spoke Friday morning with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said he and Mr. Trump "spoke about opportunities in air defense and agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies." Zelenskyy added that he and the U.S. president "agreed to a meeting between our teams."
Speaking about his call with Putin, Mr. Trump told reporters in Washington overnight, "I'm very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin because I don't think he's there."
Asked on the way to a speech in Iowa Thursday if he made any progress with Putin on a potential deal on Ukraine, Mr. Trump said, "No. I didn't make any progress with him today at all."
The U.S. president described it as a "pretty long call" in which he and Putin discussed a "lot of things, including Iran."
"And we also talked about, as you know, the war with Ukraine," he said. "And I'm not happy about that. I'm not happy about that."
The Kremlin said the call lasted nearly an hour. Asked about Mr. Trump's comments expressing disappointment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "Of course, we are paying very close attention to all of President Trump's statements."
The president and Putin spoke in mid-June, and Mr. Trump has expressed frustration with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as Russia's war on Ukraine continues with no end in sight. Russia has continued to launch assaults on Ukraine, stymying Mr. Trump's aspirations of a ceasefire.
