Trump Signals Ukraine Peace Effort Gains Momentum After Leader Calls
WASHINGTON-U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that prospects for ending the war in Ukraine were improving following separate conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as he prepared to discuss the conflict during this week’s NATO summit in Türkiye.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said a settlement was closer than many believed, although he offered no new details to support that assessment. His comments came despite continued fighting, with Russia launching overnight missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region that killed at least 28 people.
Trump said he believed both Putin and Zelensky wanted the conflict to end. He described his July 4 telephone conversation with the Russian leader as productive, saying the two leaders had a “good call.” According to a Kremlin aide, the discussion lasted 85 minutes and included Trump’s offer to help advance efforts toward a peaceful resolution.
The U.S. president also said he had spoken with Zelensky over the weekend and planned to continue discussions on Ukraine during the NATO summit in Ankara. Trump is scheduled to meet the Ukrainian president on Wednesday on the sidelines of the gathering, where a U.S. official said Washington intends to make a renewed diplomatic push to end the war.
The same official said Trump was expected to speak again with Putin after his meeting with Zelensky, reflecting continued U.S. engagement with both sides of the conflict.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia believed the U.S. position on resolving the war had remained consistent. He dismissed suggestions that Trump had shifted his views, saying the American president maintained a steady understanding of the conflict while remaining willing to hear Russia’s perspective during direct contacts with Putin.
Peskov also said the two presidents had agreed to maintain communication in the near future, underscoring continued diplomatic contacts despite the absence of a breakthrough.
Zelensky likewise characterized his recent conversation with Trump as “very good.” In an interview with the Financial Times, he said he believed the U.S. president now viewed the conflict differently following what he described as recent Ukrainian battlefield successes.
According to Zelensky, Trump praised Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign targeting Russia’s oil infrastructure, which Ukrainian officials say has contributed to fuel shortages inside Russia. Zelensky suggested those developments had influenced Trump’s assessment of the conflict.
The Ukrainian leader told the newspaper that Trump was naturally drawn toward successful outcomes, adding that political considerations, including upcoming U.S. midterm elections and Trump’s desire to bring the war to an end, also shaped his approach.
Relations between Trump and Zelensky have evolved since a contentious Oval Office meeting last year that ended in a public confrontation. Since then, the Ukrainian president has sought to rebuild ties through a series of meetings and direct contacts with the U.S. leader.
Trump’s latest remarks did not revisit his earlier criticism that Zelensky needed to move more quickly toward negotiations with Russia because, in Trump’s words at the time, Ukraine lacked sufficient leverage in peace talks.
The war, now in its fifth year, remains one of Europe’s most significant security crises, with diplomatic efforts continuing alongside sustained military operations by both Russia and Ukraine.
