Trump Says Call With Putin Yields No Progress

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on July 3 said his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin produced no breakthrough as he continues to mediate a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine.

“I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Iowa.

He said he discussed Iran and Ukraine with Putin, adding, “I’m not happy about that.”

Trump announced the call on Truth Social on the morning of July 3.

“Will be speaking to President Putin of Russia at 10:00 A.M. Thank you!” Trump wrote.

For months, Trump has been pressing both Russia and Ukraine to end a years-long war and negotiate a permanent peace.

On July 2, the Pentagon said it was pausing some shipments of weapons to Ukraine while conducting a “capability review” to ensure the aid aligns with U.S. defense priorities.

Trump defended the decision and accused his predecessor, President Joe Biden, of prioritizing Ukraine’s defense over that of the United States.

“Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves,” he told reporters.

During the NATO summit, Trump expressed his intention to speak with Putin to explore ways to broker a cease-fire. He didn’t comment on whether he was still considering plans to impose additional sanctions on Russia.

During a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House on June 5, Trump warned that if Russia and Ukraine did not reach a peace deal, he would take a “very tough” approach.

“And it could be on both countries, to be honest,” he said.

He also suggested that Russia and Ukraine may not be quite ready for peace.

“You see two young children fighting like crazy,” Trump said. “They hate each other, and they’re fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart, they don’t want to be pulled. Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while, and then pulling them apart.”

On May 27, Trump warned Putin that he was “playing with fire” as his efforts to reach a peace deal in Ukraine stalled. Trump also warned that Moscow could face additional sanctions following a massive airstrike on Kyiv.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) over the weekend said that Trump has supported advancing his Russia sanctions bill. The Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 imposes primary and secondary sanctions against Russia and a 500 percent tariff on imported goods from countries that buy Russian oil and gas.

In recent months, Trump had signaled a willingness to take a harder line against the Kremlin. But at the G7 summit in Canada on June 16, he appeared to backtrack, stating that “sanctions cost … a lot of money.”

He also criticized G7 leaders for expelling Russia in 2014 from the group, originally called the G8.

“This was a big mistake,“ Trump told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during the G7 summit. “You wouldn’t have that war. You have your enemy at the table.”

Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on June 25 on the sidelines of the NATO summit in the Netherlands. When asked whether he had discussed a potential cease-fire, Trump told reporters, “No, I just wanted to know how he’s doing.”

“It was very nice, actually. We had a little rough times,” Trump said. “He couldn’t have been nicer.”

This year’s NATO summit communiqué  reflected a shift in language about Ukraine and Russia. While its 2024 statement declared that “Ukraine’s future is in NATO,” this has been replaced with, “Allies reaffirm their enduring sovereign commitments to provide support to Ukraine, whose security contributes to ours.”