‘No step back’: Putin delivers hard line to Trump on Ukraine war
By David Crowe
London: Russian leader Vladimir Putin has told US President Donald Trump he wants to settle the “root causes” of his conflict with Ukraine without retreating on his goals, taking a hard line on any peace deal after more than three years of war.
Putin delivered the message to Trump in a private phone call that lasted nearly an hour, a day after the Pentagon froze America’s supply of Patriot systems to help Ukraine take down Russian missiles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump spoke on the phone for nearly an hour.Credit: AP
The talks came as European leaders threw more support behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting in Denmark, promising military supplies as well as finance to help Ukraine make its own weapons.
In a direct challenge to Putin over his claims to Ukrainian territory, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stepped up her message about bringing Ukraine into the union over Russian objections.
Crucially, she also argued that European countries could increase military spending on Ukraine and count this towards the NATO pledge last week – sought by Trump – to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of each country’s gross domestic product.
Russia has intensified its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine in recent months, while allegations emerged on Friday of its widespread use of banned chemical weapons. This is despite Trump’s talk of arranging a peace deal and his claim before the US election that he could end the war on “day one” of returning to office, if not before.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Denmark on Thursday.Credit: AP
Zelensky revealed he expected to speak with Trump within days, in their first conversation since the weapons freeze triggered concerns in Europe and criticism in America, including from Republicans.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow that Putin spoke to Trump about the need to address the “root causes” of the war, in an apparent reference to Russian claims to Ukrainian territory and concerns about NATO expansion.
Ushakov said the pair spoke for nearly an hour, in what was the sixth publicly disclosed chat between the two leaders since Trump returned to the White House in January.
He said the Russian president said he was open to a “negotiated solution” to end the fighting – but added that Putin would “not step back from its goals” in the conflict.
After the call, Trump said he had made no progress with Putin.
“I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don’t think he’s there, and I’m very disappointed,” he said.
“I’m just saying I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.”
In his first public comments on the pause in some arms shipments to Ukraine, Trump complained that the US had provided too many weapons to Ukraine under the previous administration.
Hours before the Trump-Putin call, Zelensky met European leaders in the Danish city of Aarhus to shore up military support for his country and set out a path for Ukraine to join 27 other nations as a member of the European Union – a prospect Putin strongly rejects.
Zelensky, speaking to reporters alongside the EU leaders, questioned whether Trump and Putin could find common ground in their phone call and declared Ukraine was prepared to strike a peace deal but said Russia would not agree.
“We supported from the very beginning the idea of President Trump [for an] unconditional ceasefire,” he said.
Zelensky added that he was ready for “any kind of format” for a peace meeting, but argued it had to include Putin himself. The Russian leader sent low-level officials to the last talks with Ukraine.
In this photo provided by Ukraine’s Territorial Defence press service, soldiers shoot at Russian targets near Kharkiv on Wednesday. Credit: AP
“I think that in Russia, only Putin [is the] real decision maker,” Zelensky said. “That’s why we need [a] meeting on the level of leaders if we really want peace.”
Russia launched waves of drones and missiles at Kyiv overnight into Friday in the largest aerial attack since the war began, injuring 23 people, while Reuters revealed that Dutch and German intelligence agencies had found evidence that Russia was intensifying its production and use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine.
The findings included the alleged dropping of choking agent chloropicrin, a banned warfare agent first used by Germany during World War I, from drones to drive soldiers out of trenches so they could be shot.
“This intensification is concerning because it is part of a trend we have been observing for several years now, where Russia’s use of chemical weapons in this war is becoming more normalised, standardised and widespread,” Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans told Reuters, calling for tougher sanctions against Moscow.
Dutch Military Intelligence Agency head Peter Reesink called the use of chemical weapons by Russian armed forces “almost standing operating procedure”.
“This isn’t just some ad-hoc tinkering at the frontline; it is truly part of a large-scale program,” he said.
Russia has denied using illegal munitions and has accused Ukraine of doing so.
Meanwhile, Ukraine on Wednesday killed Major General Mikhail Gudkov, the deputy head of Russia’s navy, in the Kursk region. He is one of the most senior Russian military officers to have been killed by Ukraine since Moscow launched its full-scale war in 2022.
The EU meeting in Aarhus marked the start of Denmark’s presidency of the union over the next six months, giving Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen more sway over policy to back Ukraine.
Frederiksen said the US should continue its military support for Ukraine, but also argued that Europe should “fill the gap” if necessary.
“The war in Ukraine has never been about Ukraine – it’s about Europe,” she said in a press conference alongside Zelensky, von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa.
“And, therefore, if we are to protect Ukraine and Europe and the trans-Atlantic alliance, we have to ensure that Ukraine gets the help that you need.
“All of us hope that [the] US will continue their support for Ukraine, and because of Ukraine, for Europe. But if there are any gaps, then I personally believe that we should be willing to fill in.”
With Bloomberg, Reuters
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