Russian president says future talks need to be between Kyiv and Moscow amid signs latter does not want US involvement.<\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin has told his United States counterpart, Donald Trump, that Moscow will not give up on its goal of eliminating the \u201croot causes\u201d of the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cRussia will not back down,\u201d Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters although he added that Putin had also expressed a \u201creadiness\u201d to \u201cseek a political and negotiated solution to the conflict\u201d during his one-hour phone conversation with Trump on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The phrase \u201croot causes\u201d is shorthand for the Kremlin\u2019s argument that it was compelled to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 to prevent the country from joining NATO and being used by the Western alliance as a launchpad to attack Russia \u2013 arguments rejected by Kyiv and its allies but supported in part by Trump.<\/p>\n
Trump said after the call that he had made \u201cno progress\u201d with Putin on moving towards a ceasefire, adding that he was \u201cnot happy\u201d about the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The phone call, their sixth since Trump started his second term in January, came the day after the Pentagon confirmed it was halting some weapons deliveries<\/a> to Kyiv, including air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery. They were promised under President Joe Biden\u2019s administration. The announcement was made as Russia has intensified<\/a> its attacks on Ukraine<\/p>\n Trump and Putin did not broach the subject of the paused weapons deliveries, according to the Kremlin aide, who said the US president had raised the issue of bringing about a swift end to the war.<\/p>\n While the prospect of a face-to-face meeting was not discussed, the two leaders agreed to keep talking.<\/p>\n Although Trump has tried to mediate in the Ukraine war, he has little progress to show for it. Putin has thus far rejected Washington\u2019s proposal for an unconditional ceasefire, and there was nothing in the Kremlin readout to suggest any shift in his position. Ukraine supported the proposal.<\/p>\n Ushakov said that while Russia was open to continuing to speak with the US, any peace negotiations needed to occur between Moscow and Kyiv.<\/p>\n He made the comment amid some indications that Moscow is trying to avoid a trilateral format for any peace negotiations. Ukrainian officials have said Russian negotiators asked US diplomats to leave the room during a meeting in Istanbul in early June.<\/p>\n Putin and Trump last talked in mid-June when Putin offered to mediate in the recent 12-day Iran-Israel war. Trump responded to Putin\u2019s offer by switching the focus back to Ukraine, saying: \u201cNo, I don\u2019t need help with Iran. I need help with you.\u201d<\/p>\n Ushakov said that during Thursday\u2019s call, Putin emphasised the need to resolve all \u201cdisputes, disagreements and conflict situations\u201d regarding Iran through diplomatic means.<\/p>\n