Trump and Putin Talk, But War Talks Fail

The recent phone call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin didn't bring any breakthroughs in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war. Trump admitted to reporters that he didn't make any progress in his conversation with Putin, which lasted quite a while. He mentioned being unhappy about the situation, but it's unclear if he was referring to the lack of progress or the war itself. Trump has been less involved in negotiating between Russia and Ukraine since February. That's when he had a heated argument with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Their relationship has been rocky ever since. The U. S. has been one of Ukraine's strongest supporters since Russia invaded in 2022. But under Trump's administration, the U. S. has started to pull back. They've even paused sending weapons to Ukraine, saying they're worried about their own stockpiles. During the call, Trump and Putin also talked about Iran. There have been recent attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities, carried out by Israel and the U. S. Russia had warned against escalating tensions in the Middle East before these attacks happened. The U. S. has given Ukraine a lot of military support since the invasion. They've provided $66. 9 billion in assistance from 2022 to March 2025. But now, it seems like the U. S. might be thinking about withdrawing that support. Vice President JD Vance said the war isn't going to end anytime soon. He made this comment after the U. S. and Ukraine signed a deal about minerals. This deal is supposed to compensate the U. S. for the financial support they've given to Ukraine. Trump and Zelenskyy's relationship hit a low point earlier this year. They've made some harsh comments about each other. Trump falsely said that Ukraine started the war with Russia. Zelenskyy responded by saying Trump was living in a "disinformation space" created by Russia. Trump then called Zelenskyy a dictator and said he wasn't interested in ending the war. They had a meeting in the Oval Office with Vance and other cabinet members. But the peace talks ended early because of their combative discussion. Zelenskyy has been critical of Trump's increasing communication with Putin. He's said that Putin isn't a reliable diplomat, pointing to failed deals with him in the past. Trump, on the other hand, said Zelenskyy disrespected the U. S. during their meeting. He even suggested that the U. S. could completely withdraw support from Ukraine's defense efforts.