Russian President Vladimir Putin held a 90-minute phone call with US President Donald Trump, discussing the war in Ukraine before next week’s NATO summit in Türkiye.
The conversation focused on prospects for ending the conflict, with both leaders addressing diplomatic efforts ahead of the July 7-8 gathering in Ankara.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Trump offered to help advance a settlement and linked the proposal to his participation in the summit.
According to Ushakov, Trump said US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would continue mediation efforts and were prepared to return to Moscow.
Putin used the call to present what the Kremlin described as a realistic assessment of the battlefield, where diplomacy and military gains continue to collide.
Russian military commanders claimed their forces had captured the strategically important eastern city of Kostiantynivka, marking what Moscow portrayed as another advance.
Ukraine swiftly rejected the assertion, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the General Staff insisting government forces remain in control of the city.
The competing claims underscored the deep divide between the warring sides as international attention shifts toward the NATO summit and renewed diplomatic initiatives.
