In a lengthy phone conversation on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump reported no progress on critical issues with Russian President Vladimir Putin, particularly concerning Iran and the conflict with Ukraine.
“No, I didn’t make any progress with him today at all,” Trump told reporters. “I’m not happy about that.”
Trump elaborated on the call, which lasted about an hour. “We had a call. It was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things, including Iran, and we also talked about, as you know, the war with Ukraine,” he said.
Meanwhile, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov conveyed Putin’s stance during the discussion. According to Ushakov, Putin emphasized that Russia would achieve its objectives in the conflict with Ukraine, aiming to eliminate the underlying causes of the current tensions.
“Our president said that Russia will achieve its goals, namely to eliminate the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs, to the current harsh confrontation. And Russia will not give up on these goals,” Ushakov stated.
Ushakov also mentioned that Russia is prepared for a third round of talks with Ukraine, although specifics were not discussed during the call with Trump.
Despite the lack of progress on pressing issues, both leaders confirmed their mutual interest in advancing economic projects between Russia and the United States, particularly in the fields of energy and space exploration.
