US President Donald Trump is “extremely frustrated” with Russian President Vladimir Putin over continued civilian deaths during ongoing ceasefire negotiations, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said during a briefing on Friday.
The remarks followed a phone call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during which the two discussed the progress – or lack thereof – in the peace process.
Rubio “welcomed, as we all did, the exchange of a thousand-for-a-thousand prisoners, which happened over the weekend,” Bruce said.
She added that Rubio had reiterated Trump’s calls for “constructive, good-faith dialogue with Ukraine as the only path forward to ending the war.”
When asked whether Lavrov had provided any clarity on the peace memorandum Moscow had promised, Bruce said she had no further update, but said that the US would judge Russia by its actions, not its words.
On whether the renewed talks in Istanbul are genuine or just political theater, Bruce declined to characterize the Secretary’s private views, instead pointing back to his public reaffirmation of the need for dialogue.
Pressed on whether good-faith dialogue can continue while Russian military offensives persist, Bruce said: “We’re going to find that out. Again, we’re going to – we’re judging – and I think the President has judged Putin, based on the nature of what was clearly extremely frustrating to him regarding the killing of civilians while talks are going on for a ceasefire.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said that no one has seen the peace memorandum Russia claims to have offered, casting further doubt on Moscow’s commitment to negotiations.
The White House on Thursday backed renewed calls for a second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, expected in Istanbul on June 2.
According to spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, the US hopes the meeting will go ahead and sees it as a step forward, with Trump having personally urged both sides to engage in direct negotiations.
Moscow proposed the meeting to present a “memorandum” outlining its terms for a long-term settlement. However, Ukraine requested the document in advance to assess Russia’s seriousness – which the Kremlin rejected.
Ukrainian officials remain skeptical, recalling that Putin skipped the first round of Istanbul talks on May 16 despite proposing them, sending low-level delegates instead. Trump earlier warned that Putin was “playing with fire,” amid mounting Western frustration with Moscow’s behavior.