U.S. President Donald Trump (R) walks alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin as the two leaders arrive at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on August 15, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images News | Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin that quickly ending the war in Ukraine could clear the way for Washington and Moscow to fully rebuild trade and economic relations, according to the Kremlin’s account of a call between the leaders.
The two presidents also discussed the outcomes of recent trips to Moscow and Kyiv by U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have been working to restart stalled diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the conflict.
Russia has renewed airstrikes on major Ukrainian cities following a short pause during the weekend visit by U.S. peace negotiators. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the international response to the latest deadly attacks has been “too little.”
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Trump and Putin spoke for exactly one hour on Tuesday, describing the exchange as “constructive and very candid,” Russia’s Tass news agency reported.
Trump emphasized that he wants the war in Ukraine to end “as soon as possible,” Ushakov said. Putin, in turn, gave Trump what Ushakov called an “objective and thorough” assessment of what Moscow refers to as its special military operation.
According to Ushakov, Trump said a rapid end to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine “would immediately open up impressive and far-reaching prospects for relations between the US and Russia to be fully restored.”
Putin also shared his view on what the American side could do to help quickly end military operations in Ukraine and dismissed speculation about a Russian threat to European nations, Ushakov added.
A spokesperson for the White House was not immediately available to comment when contacted by CNBC on Wednesday morning.
The conversation marked Putin’s fifth call with Trump this year and the 15th between the two leaders since the U.S. president took office in early 2025, according to Tass’ calculations.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the upcoming winter period, calling on further support from allies to provide urgently needed interceptor missiles.
Russian forces have ramped up the number of missile strikes on Ukrainian cities as Kyiv faces a shortage of air defense equipment.
Ukraine, for its part, has pursued long-range drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and logistics hubs, seeking to raise the cost of the war for Moscow and test Putin’s resolve after more than four-and-a-half years of conflict.
