Trump: No progress made on Ukraine war cease-fire in call with Putin
July 3 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump, who campaigned on ending the Ukraine war within 24 hours of returning to the White House, said Thursday that he "didn't make any progress" toward securing a potential cease-fire in the conflict when he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the day.
"We had a call. It was a pretty long call and we talked about a lot of things, including Iran and we also talked about, you know, the war with Ukraine," he told reporters from the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
Asked if he made any advancement toward achieving the cease-fire he's been trying to secure, he replied: "No, I didn't make any progress."
Trump earlier Thursday announced on his Truth Social platform that he was scheduled to speak with the Russian leader at 10 a.m.
A readout of the call from Putin aide Yuri Ushakov stated the conversation lasted almost an hour, and began with Trump announcing Congress had passed his mammoth tax and spending cut bill, followed by Putin wishing him success on implementing it.
On Ukraine, Putin told Trump that he is "willing to pursue negotiations" but that Russia would also "strive to achieve its goals, namely the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs."
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, with Putin claiming it was to de-Nazify its neighbor. The conflict that Putin said would be over in a matter of days continues.
Trump campaigned heavily and repeatedly stated that if he were re-elected he would have the war ended within 24 hours. Now, 164 days after returning to the White House, Trump, known for praising the Russian leader, is still trying to secure an end to the war.
The last publicly known conversation between the two was on June 14 -- Trump's birthday.
In a post to his Truth Social account, Trump said Putin wished him happy birthday. They also discussed Iran. "Much less time was spent talking about Russia/Ukraine," he said, adding "that will be for next week."
The call was made days after the Pentagon halted shipments of some missiles and ammunition to Ukraine citing concerns about U.S. weapons stockpiles.
Asked about the suspension of weapons in Maryland, Trump said the U.S is still shipping weapons to Ukraine.
"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, you know, Biden emptied out our whole country, giving them weapons, and we have to make sure we have enough for ourselves," he said.
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