Trump and Putin hold one-hour call after US envoy shuttle to Moscow and Kyiv
US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on September 8 in a one-hour conversation announced by Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. The call focused on the results of US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner's trips to Moscow on September 5 and Kyiv on September 6, where they met Putin at the Kremlin and then Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his negotiating team. Ushakov said the conversation was positive and constructive; the White House had not commented at the time of reporting.
Key points
- Trump and Putin held a one-hour phone call on September 8, announced by Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov via TASS.
- The call focused on the September 5–6 trips by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv.
- Ushakov said Trump pushed for the quickest possible end to the war and tied a settlement to restoring US-Russia trade and economic ties.
- Ushakov said Putin claimed Russia has no aggressive plans toward Europe and provided an "objective and detailed analysis" of the war.
- Both sides agreed to stay in contact and to continue work on humanitarian issues, including detainee exchanges.
- The White House had not commented on the conversation at the time of reporting.
- Bloomberg, citing informed sources, reported the US team failed to achieve a breakthrough at the Kremlin and Putin did not change his war plans.
Why it matters
The call is the highest-level US-Russia engagement since Trump and Putin met in Anchorage, Alaska on August 15, 2025, and shows the diplomatic track remains active after the back-to-back envoy visits. Trump's stated urgency to end the war during his presidency, and his linkage of a settlement to restoring US-Russia economic ties, raise the political stakes around any near-term deal. The Kremlin's use of the call to assert that Russia has no aggressive plans toward Europe signals Moscow is trying to set the public frame while the war continues.
What happened
On September 8, US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin held a one-hour telephone conversation. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov announced the call via the Russian state agency TASS, describing it as positive, frank, and constructive. According to Ushakov, the two leaders discussed the September 5–6 trips by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who met Putin in the Kremlin on September 5 in a meeting that lasted more than three hours before traveling by train to Kyiv on September 6 for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian negotiating group. Ushakov said Trump emphasized the need to end the war as soon as possible, expressed interest in achieving a Ukraine breakthrough during his presidency, and tied a settlement to restoring US-Russia trade and economic ties. Ushakov said Putin claimed Russia has no aggressive plans toward Europe, characterized Western speculation about a Russian threat as cover for increasing support for Kyiv and military spending, and provided Trump with what Ushakov called an "objective and detailed analysis" of the war. Both sides agreed to stay in contact and to continue work on humanitarian issues, including exchanges of detainees and prisoners. The White House had not commented on the conversation at the time of reporting. In Kyiv, Witkoff reported "substantial progress," including on planning additional trilateral talks, and said the envoys had heard "new ideas" in Moscow which they conveyed to the Ukrainian side. Zelensky described the Kyiv meetings as substantive and said they covered security guarantees, economic support, air defense supplies, and a pre-winter aid package, with the goal of "unblocking" the diplomatic process. National security advisors from Germany, France, and the UK joined one round of the Kyiv talks. During the visits, Ukraine and Russia agreed not to strike each other's capitals, at least until September 7.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian coverage centers how the call fits into the Witkoff-Kushner shuttle between Moscow and Kyiv, foregrounding Kremlin announcements via Ushakov and TASS and the absence of White House comment at the time of reporting. Outlets highlight Zelensky's read-out of the Kyiv meetings as substantive, covering security guarantees, air defense, economic support, and a pre-winter aid package, and frame the envoys' goal as "unblocking" the diplomatic process. Several Ukrainian titles describe Putin as a "dictator" and treat his claim of "no aggressive plans toward Europe" as a Kremlin talking point rather than a factual statement.
How international sources describe it
International coverage mirrors the Kremlin's positive framing, quoting Ushakov's characterization of the call as frank and constructive, and emphasizes Trump's stated urgency to end the war during his presidency and his linkage of a settlement to restoring US-Russia economic ties. Reporting via Bloomberg cited in Ukrainian outlets adds the skeptical counterpoint: the US team failed to achieve a breakthrough at the Kremlin, Putin did not shift his position, and European and US officials expect the war to continue into 2027 with serious negotiations unlikely before next year.
Where reporting differs
Kremlin read-outs via Ushakov describe the call and the envoys' trips as productive and constructive, with Putin "positively assessing" US peace efforts. Bloomberg, citing informed sources, reports the opposite: the US team failed to achieve a breakthrough at the Kremlin, Putin did not change his war plans, and serious negotiations are unlikely before next year. The same split applies to Witkoff's claim of "substantial progress" and planning for additional trilateral talks, which the Bloomberg reporting does not corroborate.
Background
Witkoff and Kushner met Putin at the Kremlin on September 5 in a meeting that lasted more than three hours. On September 6, they traveled by train to Kyiv for talks with President Zelensky and the Ukrainian negotiating group, which included Kyrylo Budanov, Rustem Umerov, Davyd Arakhamia, and Serhiy Kyslytsia. National security advisors from Germany, France, and the UK joined one round of the Kyiv talks. During the visits, Ukraine and Russia agreed not to strike each other's capitals, at least until September 7. Trump and Putin had previously met face-to-face in Anchorage, Alaska on August 15, 2025.