Russia tells Trump ending US support for Ukraine could help end war

Russia has indicated that ending U.S. support for Ukraine is a prerequisite for resolving the conflict, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.

Ushakov told Russian state broadcaster VGTRK on Sept. 9 that the United States must cease providing any assistance to Kyiv to help end Russia's war against Ukraine. These remarks followed a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, during which Putin reportedly outlined potential steps the U.S. could take to help end the war.

While the U.S. has halted direct financial and military aid to Ukraine, allies can still purchase U.S. weapons for Kyiv through a NATO mechanism, and Washington continues to share intelligence with Ukraine.

Ushakov's comments came after visits by Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend. These visits were part of efforts to break the deadlock in peace talks, with the envoys reportedly bringing revised peace proposals. However, no breakthrough was achieved, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated he expects the war to continue into the winter months.

A tangible outcome of the trip was an agreement to resume trilateral negotiations between Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia. Previous rounds of such talks yielded little political progress but facilitated humanitarian initiatives, including prisoner-of-war exchanges. Ushakov expressed the Kremlin's openness to continuing these negotiations in a trilateral format, potentially in the United Arab Emirates, which has hosted previous rounds.

Putin had previously told the U.S. envoys that he expects Russia to achieve its objectives and that Moscow seeks resolution of the war's "root causes." The Kremlin has consistently rejected a ceasefire and demanded Ukraine cede the Donbas region, while Ukraine calls for a ceasefire along current front lines and seeks Western-backed security guarantees.