President Donald Trump said he was “disappointed” from his call with Vladimir Putin on Thursday, adding that he failed to “make any progress” on ending the war in Ukraine.
Trump, who campaigned on ending the conflict within 24 hours of assuming office, conceded their discussion failed to yield any meaningful progress on a ceasefire.
“I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don’t think he’s there,” Trump said. “I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.”
Trump added that he plans to speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday morning, days after the U.S. confirmed it paused the shipments of some critical weapons to Kyiv, handing a win to Putin.
Earlier, Trump said he was “not happy” about the state of the war, conceding that he failed to move his Russian counterpart on the issue despite previously touting their relationship.
“I didn’t make any progress with him today at all,” he added.
Following the two leaders’ call, Putin’s foreign affairs aide told reporters that Moscow still plans to tackle the “root causes” of the conflict, alluding to its demands for Ukraine to be neutral and give up on joining the NATO military alliance, among other things.
“Donald Trump again raised the question of the quick end to the military action,” Yuri Ushakov said, according to The New York Times. “Vladimir Putin, for his part, answered that we are continuing to try to search for a politically negotiated solution to the conflict.”
Meanwhile, the Pentagon on Wednesday confirmed the suspension of some weapons shipments to Ukraine, citing low stockpiles, as Russia escalated its attacks on its neighbor.
Trump defended the move, saying the U.S. is still providing some support for Ukraine.
“We’re giving weapons, but we’ve given so many weapons. But we are giving weapons and we’re working with them and trying to help them,” Trump said.
He then went on to blame his predecessor former President Joe Biden for sending out too many weapons abroad.
“We have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves,” he added.
Zelenskyy said he plans to bring up the aid pause during his call with Trump as his country continues to be relentlessly attacked by Putin. Moscow early Friday launched its largest aerial assault on Kyiv since the start of the war, hitting Kyiv with drones and missiles, officials cited by The Associated Press said.