Putin and Zelensky hold phone calls with Trump as US president marks his 80th birthday

Putin and Zelensky hold phone calls with Trump as US president marks his 80th birthday Trump said ending the Ukraine war could open the door to a ‘new quality of US-Russian relations’, according to a Russian presidential aide Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky each held phone calls with US President Donald Trump on Sunday, as Trump marked his 80th birthday and the war in Ukraine remained a flashpoint ahead of this week’s G7 summit. On Ukraine, Ushakov said Trump emphasised the need to end hostilities and stated his readiness to influence European allies and Kyiv towards that goal, including at the coming G7 summit. Trump also said recent strikes on civilian targets in Russia complicate a settlement – though the White House has not confirmed that, nor commented on the call – and said that ending the war quickly could open the door to “a truly new quality of US-Russian relations”, Ushakov quoted the US president as saying.