The Kremlin said President Donald Trump offered to help Russian President Vladimir Putin find a solution to the Ukraine war during a nearly 90-minute phone call ahead of the NATO summit in Turkey.
Despite renewed diplomatic contacts, fighting continues on the battlefield, with Russia claiming further territorial gains while Ukraine rejects Moscow's assertions and peace efforts remain stalled.
US President Donald Trump has offered to help Russian President Vladimir Putin find a solution to the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Sunday, following a lengthy phone call between the two leaders ahead of this week's NATO summit in Turkey.
Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Trump made the offer during a nearly 90-minute conversation with Putin on Saturday, in which the two discussed the conflict in Ukraine and broader diplomatic efforts to end the war.
"The American president once again confirmed his readiness to work towards a rapid end to the fighting and find solutions to overcome the crisis," Ushakov said.
Describing the call as "businesslike and quite constructive", Ushakov said Moscow continued to seek "a political-diplomatic resolution of the conflict, with due account of Russia's fundamental approach".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also held a separate phone call with Trump on Saturday.
Zelenskyy said the two leaders discussed the 1,200-km (745-mile) front line and prospects for ending the war.
"There is a real prospect to end this war and American resolve will have a crucial meaning," he wrote on Telegram, adding that the two agreed to continue discussions during the NATO summit in Ankara next week.
Leaders from NATO's 32 member states, including Trump, are expected to gather in the Turkish capital on July 7-8.
While diplomatic contacts have intensified, fighting has changed little on the battlefield in recent months, with both sides relying heavily on drones that have slowed advances and inflicted significant losses.
Ushakov accused Ukraine and its European allies of "counting on extending and even escalating the conflict, and on terrorism against civilians", referring to Kyiv's long-range strikes on Russian oil and military infrastructure that have caused fuel shortages in several Russian regions.
He said Putin told Trump that Russian forces were continuing to make gains on the battlefield, claiming they were "confidently advancing, liberating one locality after another".
Russian military commanders reported to Putin on Friday that Moscow's troops had captured the strategic city of Kostiantynivka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Ukraine rejected the claim, with both Zelenskyy and the General Staff insisting on Saturday that Ukrainian forces remained in control of the city.
According to Ushakov, Trump said US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would continue efforts to broker a peace settlement and were prepared to return to Moscow for further talks.
Ushakov said US diplomatic initiatives had slowed in recent weeks as Washington shifted its focus to the conflict with Iran.
Putin also expressed hope that US diplomacy in the Middle East would "allow for mutually acceptable long-term solutions to be found on key issues of a settlement", Ushakov said.
