Zelenskiy says he spoke to Trump, calls for 'American resolve' to help end war
- By Reuters -
- Jul 05, 2026
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday he had spoken to U.S. President Donald Trump on the Fourth of July holiday and called for “American resolve” to help end the more than four-year-old war with Russia.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had a “very good” conversation with Trump, discussing the situation on the front line.
“There is a real prospect to end this war and American resolve will have a crucial meaning,” he said.
Zelenskiy said he and Trump had agreed to continue their discussion at next week’s NATO summit in Turkey.
In his comments,Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked the United States for its help throughout the conflict and “American hearts” who thought of Ukraine’s future and valued freedom throughout the world.
One of Kyiv’s most celebrated monuments, the 62-meter (203-foot) tall Motherland Monument statue depicting a female warrior next to the Dnipro River, was decked out at night in American colours.
Read more: Russia says its forces captured Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine
Russia’s military told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that its forces had taken control of Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine, a key locality whose capture Russia has long sought in its advance through the Donetsk region.
Putin, shown in videos visiting a command post and receiving a report from top commanders, praised the city’s capture as an important strategic achievement.
He also said Russian forces had to increase the scale of security zones in response to intensified Ukrainian long-range strikes, mainly against Russia’s oil industry.
Ukraine made no comment on Russia’s claim to have seized Kostiantynivka.
General Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s General Staff, announced the city’s capture in a report on the conduct of the war, now in its fifth year.
Gerasimov said the southern group of forces was carrying out offensive operations to “liberate” all of the Donetsk region, part of the broader Donbas region over which Russia has vowed to secure control as a key aim of its war effort.