Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump on a Tuesday phone call that Russia has no aggressive intentions toward Europe, a senior Kremlin official said. The call followed European concern about Russian sabotage campaigns on their soil.
Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, called the hourlong conversation “constructive and quite frank.” He told reporters: “In view of the speculation about Russia’s alleged hostile intentions toward European countries, it was underlined that we don’t have any aggressive plans regarding Europe.” Putin also briefed Trump on the combat situation in Ukraine and on Russia’s plans for battlefield gains, Ushakov said. The White House did not comment right away.
Ushakov said Moscow viewed the weekend visit of U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner positively. The two men held separate talks with Putin in Moscow and with Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. Nothing substantial came of it. Both sides resumed their air war after a weekend truce in their capitals for the American visitors.
Russia’s overnight attack on Kyiv and the Odesa region killed at least five civilians and wounded 25 in Kyiv, officials said. Explosions rang out in Kyiv for nearly five hours, according to Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi, and more than 50 sites were damaged, among them homes, dormitories, schools, shops, gas stations and a flour plant. Russian officials reported three people killed and 13 wounded in areas Moscow controls. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it struck Ukrainian military industry sites. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it “a horrific attack.”
Zelensky wants a Trump meeting
Zelensky said the envoys brought “a couple of very good, worthwhile ideas” for ending the war. He is counting on meeting Trump around Sept. 20, about when the U.N. General Assembly meets in New York. Putin isn’t expected to attend. Zelensky will press for more Patriot air defense systems against Russian ballistic missiles. He kept the proposals private but hopes delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. can talk in the fall.
U.K. Defense Secretary Wes Streeting told a meeting of Ukraine’s backers that Kyiv needs 300 Patriot missiles from partners’ stocks, 500 air-to-air interceptors and $2 billion for more drones. The European Commission approved a $3.7 billion loan for Kyiv to buy components for Patriot systems, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said.
Kremlin says victory is close
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “victory is very close” and that Russia is “very confident in our military potential,” while saying Moscow wants a peaceful solution and welcomes Trump’s efforts. Ukrainian and Western observers say Russia has made no significant progress along the 800-mile front line. The Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces will not seize Donetsk “until 2032 at their current rate of advance, if they can seize it at all.”
U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby told the same online meeting that the war could drag on for years. “We must be prepared for a protracted conflict and for Ukraine’s requirements to persist in the months and years ahead,” he said.
