In sixth call since January, Putin tells Trump: Russia ‘will not step back from goals’ in Ukraine

Putin repeated claims that Russia invaded to fend off NATO expansion and defend Russian-speaking populations — assertions flatly rejected by Kyiv and the West.

While Thursday’s call made no mention of recent US policy changes, it came amid the Pentagon’s confirmation that it is pausing some weapons shipments to Ukraine to reassess military stockpiles. The delayed supplies reportedly include air defense missiles and precision-guided artillery.

On Iran, Ushakov said the Russian president stressed the need to resolve tensions “by political and diplomatic means.” The call came just days after US airstrikes on June 22 targeted three locations inside Iran.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking in Denmark after a meeting with EU leaders, said he expects to speak with Trump “in the coming days” about the implications of the pause.

“I’m not sure that they have a lot of common ideas, common topics to talk [about], because they are very different people,” Zelenskyy said when asked what he expected from the Trump-Putin exchange.

The latest call adds to a string of resumed high-level contacts between Trump and Putin, signaling their shared interest in thawing US-Russia relations, which have deteriorated dramatically since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The conversation also came just two days after Putin spoke directly with French President Emmanuel Macron — their first call in nearly three years.