Ukraine War · 08 September, 2026 · 3 min read
Kremlin Says Putin and Trump Held Constructive Phone Call on Ukraine Peace Talks
Putin and Trump held an hour-long constructive, frank call on Ukraine settlement. They discussed outcomes of US envoys' visits to Moscow and Kyiv.
Whether talks indicate progress.
10 of 12 outlets skipped it: kremlin said Russia has no hostile plans towards Europe.
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ABC News treats the Moscow-then-Kyiv talks as meaningful. Deutsche Welle stresses there was no breakthrough.
Putin-Trump call, envoys meet
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump held a “constructive and frank” hour-long telephone call, the Kremlin said, with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov telling reporters the leaders discussed the outcome of U.S. envoys’ recent visit to Moscow and Kyiv.
“The conversation was "constructive and frank" and lasted exactly one hour”
Ushakov said the presidents exchanged views on the visits by special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and that Putin gave Trump “a realistic assessment” of the situation on the battlefield.
Witkoff, Kushner and Zelenskyy met in Kyiv on Sunday after the envoys met Putin in Moscow on Saturday, with Witkoff hailing “very meaningful discussions” on the Ukraine-Russia war.
ABC News reported the Kyiv talks were “substantive [and] important,” and that Kushner told Zelenskyy Trump wanted the envoys to convey that the problem was “very, very hard and complex” but “a very worthy problem worth solving.”A
Optimism, but no deal
After the Moscow and Kyiv meetings, participants described the discussions as positive, while ABC News said the U.S. envoys’ trip followed talks in Moscow where a White House official told ABC News there were “substantive plans for next steps” despite few signs peace was any closer.A
In Kyiv, Zelenskyy thanked the United States for continued support and said, “After the meetings in the Russian Federation, it was very important for us to have President Trump's chief negotiators in Ukraine today,” as Witkoff and Kushner arrived from Poland by train.
The BBC described the talks as “rich in symbolism” but said “fundamental differences between Russia and Ukraine remain,” noting that Putin told the envoys Russia was making “tangible advances” while Ukrainian officials claimed in August they gained more territory than they lost and Russia suffered 42,000 casualties, dead or wounded.
The BBC also reported Zelenskyy insisted Ukraine would require “strong and clear” security guarantees, including a strong army, and that he gave “no sign of being willing to give up any territory” in the eastern Donbas region.
Winter stakes and next steps
The talks in Kyiv centered on military aid and a winter plan, with Deutsche Welle reporting Zelenskyy said the discussions focused on military aid, including Patriot missile systems and other weapons Ukraine will need in the coming months.D
“we will need a 'winter package'”
Zelenskyy told reporters, “If the war drags on until winter — and that is how things currently look — we will need a 'winter package',” and PBS reported Zelenskyy said the discussions covered air defense needs and a “winter package” of support covering both air defense and energy infrastructure.
PBS said the sides agreed to hold a follow-up meeting involving Ukraine, the U.S. and Europe, though a location had not been set, and it quoted Witkoff saying the U.S. was pursuing “a diplomatic resolution to this conflict, not a kinetic resolution.”
At the same time, the Independent reported that after the envoys’ Kyiv and Moscow talks, Putin and Trump discussed the possibility of restoring U.S.-Russia ties in the “constructive and frank” phone call, while the Independent tied the call to a Russian air attack on Kyiv in which Zelenskyy said Moscow tried to “cause as much harm to life as possible.”