The President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, held a conversation today that lasted about an hour.
Each of the presidents expressed the intention to seek a negotiated solution for Ukraine.
Trump raised the issue of a quick end to the conflict in Ukraine, The Guardian reports.
But Putin insisted that Russia "will achieve its goal of removing the root problems that led to the Ukraine conflict" and "will not back down from its goals."
Russia's position is that "peace talks in Ukraine are between Moscow and Kiev." They also had a detailed discussion on Iran and the Middle East.
The two presidents agreed to continue discussions in the future.
Diplomat Yuri Ushakov earlier told reporters that Putin informed Trump about the implementation of agreements reached between Russia and Ukraine last month on the exchange of prisoners of war and dead soldiers, and that Moscow is ready to continue negotiations with Kiev.
This call came after the Financial Times reported that a conversation is expected to take place the next day, July 4, between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has suspended arms shipments to Ukraine, causing another shock in the confrontation between Kiev and Moscow.
According to the Wall Street Journal, US military supplies, which had already arrived in Poland and were waiting to enter Ukraine, have been blocked, raising serious concerns about the defensive capacity of the Ukrainian military.
The American newspaper cites sources from the administration of former President Donald Trump and the US Congress, according to which the prohibited supplies include over 24 Patriot PAC-3 missiles, more than two dozen Stinger air defense systems, Hellfire air-to-surface missiles, and over 90 AIM air-to-air missiles intended for Ukrainian F-16 aircraft.
This development comes at a critical moment, with Ukraine under great pressure from the Russian offensive and Western support in question.