Trump and Putin Speak on Ukraine, Iran

"Putin told Trump that Russia is not going to give up on its goals in Ukraine, Ushakov said, adding that Russia sees its peace talks with Ukraine as a bilateral issue that the U.S. shouldn't be actively involved in.

What's next: Ukrainian officials said President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to speak with Trump on Friday to discuss the pause of the weapons shipments."

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Well, Donald Jehovah Trump now his Marching Orders from Vlad. I'm sure he'll break the news to Zelensky kindly.

Vlad actually made Lil' Donnie wait for an hour for him to answer the 4:00 scheduled phone call because he was talking to a room full of oligarchs (Russian, supposedly, lol).

Then he threw some shade at the US President:

"He apologized to the host and the crowd and announced that he is going to have a phone call with Trump and requested the audience, "Please, don't be angry. I understand that we could talk more, but it's so awkward to make [Trump] wait, he could get offended."

www.ndtv.com

UPDATE:

"Trump said he had a long call with Putin on Iran and Ukraine. According to the Kremlin, the call lasted more than an hour.

Trump said he "is not happy" about the war in Ukraine and stressed he "didn't make any progress at all" on this issue in his call with Putin."

www.axios.com

ALSO:

"China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly told the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas on July 3 that the country cannot afford for Russia to lose the war in Ukraine amid fears the U.S. would shift focus towards Beijing, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, citing sources familiar with the conversation.

As the war in Ukraine drags on, Wang's reported comments suggest that Russia's war in Ukraine may serve China's strategic needs as focus is deviated away from Beijing's mounting preparation to launch its own possible invasion into Taiwan.

China has been a key ally to Russia during its full-scale war, helping Moscow evade Western sanctions and becoming the leading source of dual-use goods fueling the Russian defense industry."

kyivindependent.com

"Putin is invading more than Ukraine

The new battlefield is online, and the stakes are democratic sovereignty."

www.politico.eu