Trump Says Ukraine Deal 'Getting Closer' After Putin Call
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- Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on July 6, 2026 that a resolution to the four-year-old Ukraine war is "getting closer than people realize," asserting both Putin and Zelenskyy want it ended.
- Trump's 85-minute Fourth of July call with Putin was marked by the U.S. president offering to help find a path to peace, according to a Kremlin aide.
- Russia hammered Kyiv and the surrounding region with missiles and drones overnight, killing at least 28 people, even as Trump described progress.
- Trump is scheduled to meet Zelenskyy on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, and is expected to follow up with Putin afterward.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Trump agreed to continue contacts "in the near future" and pushed back on suggestions the U.S. position is shifting, calling it consistent.
- Zelenskyy told the Financial Times that Trump told him Ukraine "is doing very well" with its long-range drone campaign on Russian oil industry targets, which has triggered fuel shortages inside Russia.
- Zelenskyy attributed Trump's apparent shift to "the approaching [U.S. midterm] elections, to his status, to his belief in how this war can be ended," saying Trump "wants to be where there's success."
Why it matters: Trump pairs a rosy "getting closer" framing with continued Russian strikes that killed at least 28 in Kyiv overnight — the contradiction is the story. Zelenskyy told the FT the real lever is Ukraine's drone campaign, which has triggered fuel shortages inside Russia, and linked Trump's apparent pivot to both that battlefield pressure and the 2026 U.S. midterms.
