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Agence France-Presse

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump on Tuesday discussed the Ukraine conflict in an “extremely frank” and constructive hour-long phone call, the Kremlin said.
It came after US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend in an attempt to kick-start long-stalled US efforts to end the fighting.
Washington has been pushing for fresh face-to-face talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
Kyiv says the talks could happen as early as this month, but the Kremlin on Monday said it was “too early” to discuss a venue or dates.
During their call on Tuesday, Putin and Trump “focused on the issue of a settlement in Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
Trump called for a speedy end to the fighting, Ushakov said, while Putin presented an “objective and detailed analysis” of the frontline situation.

Putin has routinely said his troops are advancing across the entire front, with the capture of the entire eastern Donbas region a matter of time.
Putin “pointed out what the Americans could realistically do to bring the hostilities to a swift conclusion” and stressed that Russia had “no aggressive plans” towards Europe, Ushakov added.
Trump and the White House did not provide an immediate readout of the call.
Russia has intensified aerial attacks on Ukrainian towns and cities in recent months.
After announcing a brief ceasefire to coincide with Witkoff and Kushner’s visit to Kyiv, Moscow resumed strikes on the Ukrainian capital overnight, killing at least five people, according to Ukraine’s rescue services.
Reporters in Kyiv heard fresh explosions in the early hours of Tuesday, triggering fires and sending locals down into basements and metro stations for shelter.

Zelensky, meanwhile, said Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators could meet as early as this month for talks on finding an end to the war.
“If all sides agree, we also want to hold it in the autumn. If September works out, then it would be great. The earlier, the better,” he said.
Several previous rounds of negotiations have failed. Trust is low, and there is no sign that Moscow or Kyiv have shifted their positions.
“The moment the US president’s peace envoys left, Putin launched another massive, horrific attack against Kyiv,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said. “His ballistic missiles speak louder than his words on diplomacy.”
Russia said it had carried out a “massive strike” on military-industrial sites, logistics hubs and storage centres in Kyiv and its suburbs.
Locals said they ran for cover as the attack started.
“It was very terrifying, we barely managed to run into the parking lot. The parking lot was shaking all over too,” Nina Kimova, 55, said, adding that her car had been “burned to ashes”.
Civilian deaths in Ukraine are running at their highest rate since the first months of Russia’s offensive, according to statistics verified by the United Nations.
In the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula, Russian-installed officials said a Ukrainian attack killed two people.
Zelensky told US news outlet Axios that the US was pushing for a de-escalation before winter and that Putin did not want to annoy Trump before the US midterm legislative elections in early November.
Russia has struck Ukraine’s energy grid each winter since launching its offensive in February 2022, cutting power and heating to millions in temperatures as low as -20 degrees Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit).
The two sides appear no closer to agreeing on how the war should end.
Moscow is demanding Ukraine cede territory in its eastern Donetsk region that it still controls and renounce Western military support.
Kyiv has said such terms amount to capitulation and would only allow Russia to prepare a fresh attack in its bid to install a Moscow-friendly puppet government.


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Ukraine war

Putin and Trump discuss Ukraine in ‘extremely frank’ call

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Ukraine conflict in a phone call. Photo: AFP

A building in Kyiv destroyed in a Russian missile attack on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin welcomes Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow on Saturday. Photo: Sputnik via TNS

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomes Steve Witkoff Jared Kushner in Kyiv on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Russia resumes deadly strikes on Kyiv after pause for Trump envoys’ visit

Smoke rises over buildings in downtown Kyiv on Tuesday following Russian air attacks. Photo: AFP

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in Kyiv on Sunday. Photo: AP

President Vladimir Putin greets Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Saturday. Photo: Sputnik via AP

Zelensky warns Ukraine war is likely to continue into winter after US talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and US Special Envoy for Peace Steve Witkoff in Kyiv, Ukraine on Sunday. Photo: EPA

An electronic board displays “Peace Express” at a railway station for a train carrying Witkoff and Kushner before their arrival in Kyiv, Ukraine on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone strike in the Kyiv region on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Ukraine war: how escalating attacks are upending lives in Kyiv

People visit a McDonald’s in Kyiv in an area hit by ​​numerous missile attacks. File photo: Reuters

A man looks on as smoke rises over a warehouse in the Kyiv region hit by a Russian drone strike on August 27. Photo: Reuters

A medical worker in Kyiv treats a man injured by a Russian drone strike on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Six-year-old Svyatoslav sits on Tuesday in front of a Kyiv residential building damaged by a Russian drone strike. Photo: Reuters

US envoys put forward ‘number of ideas’ on Ukraine to Putin, Kremlin says

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) greets Jared Kushner (left) and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on Saturday. Photo: Sputnik / Gavriil Grigorov / Pool via Reuters

Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on Saturday. Photo: Gavriil Grigorov / Sputnik / EPA

Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone strike in the Kyiv region, Ukraine on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

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The hour-long talks focused on ‘the issue of a settlement’, the Kremlin says, as the US leader called for a speedy end to the fighting


The hour-long talks focused on ‘the issue of a settlement’, the Kremlin says, as the US leader called for a speedy end to the fighting.


Putin and Trump discuss Ukraine in ‘extremely frank’ call

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The hour-long talks focused on ‘the issue of a settlement’, the Kremlin says, as the US leader called for a speedy end to the fighting

The hour-long talks focused on ‘the issue of a settlement’, the Kremlin says, as the US leader called for a speedy end to the fighting