Trump: I’m disappointed with Putin, he’s not willing to stop Russia-Ukraine war

United States President Donald Trump, on Friday morning, said he was disappointed from a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin because it does not appear the latter is looking to stop Russia’s war against Ukraine.

U.S. attempts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine through diplomacy have largely stalled, and Trump has faced growing calls – including from some Republicans – to increase pressure on Putin to negotiate in earnest.

After speaking to Putin on Thursday, July 3, 2025, Trump plans to speak to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday.

Trump said in remarks to reporters on his return to Washington from a trip to Iowa.

He said: “I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don’t think he’s there, and I’m very disappointed.

“I’m just saying I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.”

The two leaders did not discuss a recent pause in some U.S. weapons shipments to Kyiv during the nearly hour-long conversation, a summary provided by Putin aide Yuri Ushakov showed.

Within hours of their concluding the call, an apparent Russian drone attack sparked a fire in an apartment building in a northern suburb of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said, indicating little change in the trajectory of the conflict.

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In Kyiv itself, Reuters witnesses reported explosions and sustained heavy machine-gun fire as air defense units battled drones over the capital, while Russian shelling killed five people in the east.

“I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” Trump told reporters.

Zelenskiy told reporters in Denmark earlier on Thursday that he hopes to speak to Trump as soon as Friday about the pause in some weapons shipments first disclosed this week.

Speaking to reporters as he left Washington for Iowa, Trump said “we haven’t” completely paused the flow of weapons but blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for sending many weapons that risked weakening U.S. defenses.

He added: “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, but we haven’t (completely stopped). You know, Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves.”

The Star