In 2021, when Olga Rudenko and other journalists launched the Kyiv Independent, they were committed to making a publication that wouldn't face political pressure from an owner. A few months later, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the Independent began reporting breaking news from the front lines.
We expect this meeting to create an opportunity to move talks to the leaders' level. Trump supports this sequence of steps. A direct leaders' summit is the only way to resolve all the complex and sensitive issues and finally end the war.
Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told Russian reporters that the call lasted around an hour and was "frank" and "businesslike." He claimed Putin presented Trump with "several proposals" for ending the war with Iran.