Trump holds separate calls with Putin and Zelenskyy on ending the war in Ukraine

President Trump held separate calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year. The calls came as Ukraine’s invasion of Crimea left one person dead, according to officials deployed by Moscow in the Russian-controlled territory.

Two people were also injured, one seriously, during the attack in northern Crimea, said the Russian-backed regional government, Sergei Aksyonov, on Telegram. Aksyonov did not provide details about the attack.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on key infrastructure targets in Crimea such as the Kyiv military it wants to separate itself an important peninsula held by Russia in the later stages of the war. The Russian authorities in Crimea declared a state of emergency in the area at the end of last month, stopping the sale of fuel to the people because of the Ukrainian invasion. Putin, unusually, told a Russian journalist at the time that the strikes in Ukraine were causing “problems” in Russia.

Crimea was forcibly and illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014. Ukraine’s increased use of long-range strikes has highlighted its ability to inflict devastating damage on Russia and put more pressure on the Kremlin while Moscow’s advances have recently stalled, Western analysts and officials said.

The latest attack came after Zelenskyy and Putin spoke to Mr Trump about ending the war.

Writing in X, Zelenskyy said he called to congratulate Mr. Trump to celebrate 250 years of American independence and that the two leaders have discussed the situation before.

“There is real hope of ending this war, and the determination of the United States will be important. We have agreed to continue the dialogue in person during the NATO meeting in Ankara,” he said late Saturday.

The Kremlin said Putin and Mr. Trump discussed the Ukraine conflict in a “constructive” phone call on Saturday.

Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said Putin congratulated Mr. Trump and the American people on the 250th anniversary of America’s independence during a phone call that lasted about an hour and a half, their fourth conversation so far this year.

Ushakov said Mr. Trump confirmed his “readiness to help quickly stop the conflict and seek peaceful solutions to the problem” in Ukraine, while Mr. Trump’s Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will continue mediation efforts and are ready to visit Moscow.

A Kremlin adviser said Putin reiterated “Russia’s preference for conflict resolution, as long as Russia’s well-known and important positions are taken into account.”

At the same time, Putin accused Kyiv and its European partners of “betting on expansion, and they escalated the conflict,” arguing that the “European war group” comes from a wrong perception of the whole situation and the state of things in the way of communication, “said Ushakov.

He added that Putin told Mr. Trump “in the real situation on the battlefield, where the Russian armed forces are advancing confidently, liberating one settlement after another.”

The Russian leader spoke directly about the capture of the Ukrainian fortress Kostyantynivka, describing it as an important step in the “liberation” of the entire Donetsk region.

Kyiv has denied Russia’s claim to have kidnapped Kostyantynivka. Ukraine’s General Staff also said the troubled city was still under Ukrainian control in a statement on Telegram on Sunday, a day after Zelenskyy said Russia’s alleged takeover was “another Russian lie.”