US President Donald Trump on Thursday evening expressed frustration over his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the same day, saying the conversation yielded no progress on ending the war in Ukraine.
“I’m speaking to President [Volodymyr] Zelensky tomorrow early in the morning,” Trump told reporters. “And I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today [Thursday] with President Putin, because I don’t think he’s there.”
“I don’t think he’s there, and I’m very disappointed,” Trump repeated. “I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.”
Trump went on to criticize former US President Joe Biden, calling Russia’s war in Ukraine “Biden’s war” and claiming it would never have happened under his leadership.
“If I were president, it wouldn’t have happened,” he said. “In one way, I hate to get too involved because it’s Biden’s war. And I got stuck in the middle of it.”
His comments followed the Kremlin’s description of the same call as “frank and constructive.” Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov claimed that the two leaders were “on the same wavelength,” and that Putin had made clear that Russia “will continue to pursue its goals” in Ukraine and “will not back down.”
Despite the Kremlin’s positive framing, Trump appeared visibly dissatisfied with the call’s outcome.
“I was not happy with the conversation,” he said bluntly.
Early on Friday morning, Russia launched of one its most intense aerial assaults of the full-scale war. Moscow fired 550 Shahed drones, decoy UAVs, and missiles into Ukraine, including ballistic weapons.
Kremlin launched a massive drone and missile strike on Kyiv, injuring over two dozen people. Fires broke out across the city as helicopters fought blazes and debris damaged key civilian infrastructure.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha described the predawn hours of July 4 as one of the worst nights Ukraine’s capital has endured during the war, stressing that the attack followed directly after Putin’s phone call with Trump.
Republicans slam Trump’s Russia policy after Kyiv attack
Following one of the most brutal Russian attacks on Ukraine in months, top Republican lawmakers sharply criticized Trump’s approach to Moscow, warning that continued leniency would only embolden Russian aggression.
Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) took to social media to directly address Trump, saying his current posture toward Russia is failing.
“Mr. President, your policy towards Russia is not working. While we negotiate, Putin bombs Ukrainian cities. Here is Kyiv today,” Bacon wrote. “It is time to change strategy. We and our allies must arm Ukraine to the teeth and we need the toughest sanctions. Putin is mocking you and America.”
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) echoed the outrage in a separate post on X, calling Putin a “war criminal” and accusing him of targeting ancient Ukrainian cities in a desperate act of destruction.
“As Americans begin to enjoy the sounds of fireworks in celebration of our Nation’s Independence, war criminal Putin, who is losing his pathetic war, resorts to scorched earth tactics across Ukrainian cities that predate Moscow’s existence,” Wilson wrote.
He expressed confidence that the Department of Defense would act swiftly to bolster Ukraine’s defenses and “advance President Trump’s objectives stated at The Hague,” referring to Trump’s past remarks about securing peace through strength and deterrence.
“Armed with cheap Iranian and North Korean weapons, Putin delights in firebombing sleeping families and will continue his imperialist perversions until he is stopped,” Wilson added.
Sybiha also urged the US and its allies to ramp up sanctions on Moscow and provide Ukraine with essential defense systems, warning that “wrong decisions only encourage the aggressor.” If Putin isn’t held accountable, he added, it will embolden other dictators.
Zelensky echoed that message, adding that air raid sirens across Ukraine began just as the media reported on Putin’s call with Trump, calling the strike a “demonstratively cynical” move that showed Moscow had no intention of ending its war or terror.
He said the capital and multiple other regions – including Dnipro, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Kyiv oblast – were affected. As of now, 23 people in Kyiv have been confirmed injured, 14 of whom were hospitalized.
Zelensky emphasized that Russia won’t abandon its “stupid, destructive behavior” unless it faces serious pressure. He said every strike on civilians must be met with equal force – through sanctions and blows to Russia’s economy and infrastructure – and called on partners, “above all, the US,” to act.