Putin, Zelenskyy Call Trump; Ukraine Strikes Hit Russia
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- Putin spoke with Trump by phone for just under an hour on Sunday, with Russian aide Yuri Ushakov saying Trump warned that recent strikes on Russian civilian targets 'complicate a settlement' and that ending the war could open 'a truly new quality of U.S.-Russian relations.'
- Putin responded that attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure would not change Ukraine's battlefield position, and invited Zelenskyy to Moscow for a meeting — 'let him come to Moscow,' Ushakov quoted him as saying.
- Zelenskyy described his call with Trump as 'wonderful,' said he thanked Trump for supporting Ukraine, and reported that Ukraine's position along the eastern front line 'has improved and strengthened.'
- Ukrainian drone attacks killed one person and wounded nine in a residential building in Russia's Oryol region, killed another in Bryansk region, and struck fuel storage facilities in Yaroslavl region — roughly 440 miles from the Ukrainian border — sparking fires Zelenskyy called 'an oil facility that was important for the reserve of the aggressor state.'
- U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to travel to Russia soon, Ushakov said, as Trump prepares to fly overnight to France for the G7 summit where Ukraine is a major agenda item and Zelenskyy is due to join.
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the UK detained the sanctioned tanker Smyrtos in the English Channel — the first UK-led operation of its kind, carried out with France — targeting Russia's 'shadow fleet' used to evade war-related sanctions.
Why it matters: The separate Putin and Zelenskyy calls show Trump is still engaging both sides directly, but no breakthrough emerged — Putin dismissed civilian strikes and offered a Moscow meeting, while Zelenskyy cited battlefield gains. The UK boarding the Smyrtos adds a new sanctions-enforcement tool, and Witkoff and Kushner's upcoming Russia trip keeps a diplomatic channel open ahead of the G7.
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