Putin tells Trump Russia will fight until ‘all objectives’ are met, rules out Ukraine war peace breakthrough

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out an immediate end to the war in Ukraine, telling US President Donald Trump that Moscow would continue fighting until it achieved all its objectives. The phone call came hours before Russian strikes killed at least 20 people, including three children, in Ukraine on Saturday.According to the New York Post (NYP), Putin made the remarks during a 90-minute conversation with Trump on Friday. Russian foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Moscow would continue military operations until it achieved its stated goals.“Putin made it clear that Moscow will continue hostilities until it achieves all stated goals,” Ushakov told Russian state media.Putin also reportedly sought to convince Trump that Ukraine had no prospects of winning the war and that Russia had the outcome entirely in its hands. However, recent battlefield developments have included Ukrainian forces reclaiming territory, challenging Moscow's claims of having the upper hand.Ushakov said Trump had agreed to convey Putin's message about the prospects for peace talks to the Ukrainian government. The two leaders reportedly continued their conversation for an extended period, with neither wanting to end the call first.The conversation followed six hours of high-level discussions organised by the United States on Friday. The meeting included US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Ukrainian negotiators and representatives from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Commission and NATO. However, the talks failed to produce a breakthrough.The diplomatic developments have also strained relations between Washington and Kyiv. Ukrainian officials said they were caught off guard by the Trump administration's decision to ease export sanctions on Russia, allowing Russian diesel fuel to be shipped to the United States.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised the move as a “weak decision”, arguing that it could help sustain Russia's war effort. A senior Ukrainian official described the development as feeling like a trap, according to the Kyiv Independent.Hours after the Trump-Putin conversation, Russian forces struck a residential neighbourhood in Zaporizhzhia with five guided aerial bombs early Saturday, killing at least 20 people and injuring 18, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said.Three children, including an 11-year-old boy, were among those killed. Emergency workers searched through the rubble for survivors and victims, with some people reportedly trapped for several hours.Mykhailo Semikin, acting governor of Zaporizhzhia, expressed grief over the deaths, saying the children should have had the chance to grow up, pursue their dreams and learn about the world.“There are no words that can ease the pain of families who have lost their loved ones,” he said in a message on Telegram.The latest strikes came amid continued uncertainty over diplomatic efforts to end the war, with Putin signalling that Russia would press ahead with its military campaign and US-led talks failing to deliver an immediate path towards peace.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.