Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart, Donald Trump, that Moscow would not give up its objectives in Ukraine, dimming White House hopes for a cease-fire in a war now in its fourth year.
During a July 3 phone call, Putin told Trump that “Russia will achieve its goals” in Ukraine and “will not abandon” them, according to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov. Russia is seeking to conquer Ukraine and bring the independent country back into Moscow's orbit.
Trump told reporters before leaving for an event in Iowa that he and Putin discussed both Iran and Ukraine but made no progress.
The call, which lasted about an hour, was the sixth between the two leaders since Trump took office on January 20.
SEE ALSO: Russia's War Economy Is Heading To Recession. It Probably Won't Slow Down The War.Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine a top foreign policy objective, launching an intense track of diplomacy with Kyiv and Moscow just weeks into his presidency.
However, the effort, which included dispatching his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Moscow on at least three occasions to meet with Putin, has failed so far in the face of Kremlin intransigency. Trump's proposed 30-day cease-fire, accepted by Ukraine, has been repeatedly rejected by the Russian leader.
Putin believes he is winning the war and therefore has little incentive to negotiate now, experts say. Russia’s troops continue to advance on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, albeit at extraordinary human and material costs.
In their most significant advance of the year, Russian forces last month coupled territorial gains with the fiercest aerial assaults since the war began on February 24, 2022.
Aid Halt
Trump's call with Putin came a day after the White House confirmed that it had halted some weapons supplies to Ukraine, saying it was running low on stock. Russia had been demanding that Ukraine's Western partners end military aid to Ukraine as part of any cease-fire agreement.
In his comments before departing Washington for Iowa, Trump denied that the United States has stopped sending arms to Ukraine.
"We haven’t," he said. "We are giving weapons, but we’ve given so many weapons.... We are giving weapons and we are working with them to try to help them. We have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves."
The pause in deliveries affects air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery, and other equipment, according to US media reports.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen (Democrat-New Hampshire), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a July 3 statement that the Senate, on a bipartisan basis, "was shocked" by the halt in aid and is seeking to reverse the administration's decision. Ukraine has traditionally enjoyed widespread bipartisan support in Congress.
Shaheen said the contents of the call showed that Putin continued to "play" Trump.
Mikhail Alexseev, a political science professor at San Diego State University, told RFE/RL that the July 3 call confirmed that Putin is not willing to compromise on the issue of Ukraine.
"Moscow's position just remains entrenched, and in some ways, indeed tougher," he said, pointing to Putin's recent comments at a conference in St. Petersburg dismissing Ukrainians as a people distinct from Russians.
"In their thinking, they see Trump abandoning Ukraine. And if he does, they don't have any incentive to stop the fighting, and they can become just more insistent on achieving their initial objectives," Alexseev said.
"The only way to actually bring Russia seriously to negotiating table is to provide Ukraine with more support so that Russia doesn't see a way to win this conflict militarily," he said.
It is a view shared by many experts as well as US, European, and Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on the United States to send more weapons and impose greater sanctions on Russia to force Moscow to the negotiating table.
Since taking the office, Trump has not approved any new weapons deliveries for Ukraine nor imposed any new sanctions on Russia. His administration has also relaxed enforcement, experts say. Trump countered that imposing sanctions on Russia would hurt peace negotiations.
Trump will hold a call with Zelenskyy on July 4 with the halt in military aid to be a top talking point.
SEE ALSO: US Halts Some Weapons Shipments to Ukraine Amid Concerns Over Stockpile LevelsUshakov claimed the issue of US aid to Ukraine was not raised during Trump's call with Putin. He added that Putin told Trump during the call that Russia was still interested in a "negotiated solution" to the war.
Russian and Ukrainian officials held peace talks this year for the first time since the beginning of the war but made little progress as both sides are still far apart.
The Kremlin wants Ukraine to surrender territory, demilitarize, and reject NATO membership aspirations -- demands that cross its red lines.
Experts say that Putin is continuing to claim support to the idea of peace talks to appease Trump who has staked a lot on reaching a deal.