Donald Trump has made a desperate plea to Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.
The president, 80, rode to power on the promise that he would wrap up the four-and-a-half-year conflict and put it to bed within 48 hours in the White House.
He was 596 days into his term when he spoke to Russia’s leader, 73, on Tuesday over the phone, the same day that Ukraine said five people had died, and 30 more had been injured in Russian airstrikes on its capital, Kyiv.
Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov gave a readout of the call to the press afterward, claiming Trump said he wanted the war to end as quickly as possible and hoped for a breakthrough before he left the White House in January 2029.
The Financial Times reports that Ushakov also said Trump tried to entice Putin into striking a peace deal by dangling “colossal advantages for both sides.”
Putin is also said to have given Trump an “objective and comprehensive analysis” of the situation on the frontline and “outlined what the Americans could really do for an immediate ceasefire.”
Those details were not revealed in the readout, and the U.S. has not yet responded to Russia’s claims.
Fingers in Europe are pointing toward Russia following a series of incidents that are feared to be part of a “hybrid war.”
Chief among the incidents came at Leipzig/Halles airport in Germany last month, when a drone laden with explosives was found near a parked fleet of Ukrainian Antonov cargo planes being stored on behalf of Kyiv during the war.
Germany has blamed Russia for the incident, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz saying that “This attack was planned in Russia for months and was specifically targeted at Germany, and only by pure chance was major material damage and harm to people prevented.”
During the call with Trump, Putin said Europe’s increasing paranoia was unfounded.
Ushakov’s readout said Putin had called hybrid war allegations “myths” being used as “cover to increase their support for Ukraine and their own defense spending.”
The phone call comes after Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, visited both Ukraine and Russia as part of U.S. advocacy for a peace deal.
During that time, Russia suspended its aerial bombardment of Ukraine. Kyiv says the gesture ended abruptly.
“The moment the U.S. president’s peace envoys left, Putin launched another massive, horrific attack against Kyiv,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a social media post. “His ballistic missiles speak louder than his words on diplomacy.”
Ukraine said it had downed 142 drones as well as 31 of 32 cruise missiles and a pair of ballistic missiles, Al Jazeera reports.
Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that five people had died in the latest blitz.
Eight more people were injured when a pair of Russian jet drones hit a Ukrainian passenger train in the country’s east.
The incident left two carriages on fire, despite Russia’s insistence that it does not target civilians.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
