Ukraine and Russia traded drone attacks overnight, just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone for nearly two hours about the war in Ukraine. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 108 attack drones, including Shahed drones and other decoys. Ukrainian forces shot down 93 of them, mostly in the east, center, and north of the country, according to CNN. Despite the drone strikes, President Trump said after the phone call that Ukraine and Russia would begin talking about a ceasefire “immediately.” However, President Putin had a differen

Ukraine and Russia traded drone attacks overnight, just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone for nearly two hours about the war in Ukraine. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 108 attack drones, including Shahed drones and other decoys. Ukrainian forces shot down 93 of them, mostly in the east, center, and north of the country, according to CNN. Despite the drone strikes, President Trump said after the phone call that Ukraine and Russia would begin talking about a ceasefire “immediately.” However, President Putin had a different tone. He said Russia was open to a ceasefire “for a certain period of time” but only if proper agreements were made. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov confirmed that “no specific timeframe” for peace had been discussed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not convinced by Putin’s words. “It is obvious that Russia is trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation,” Zelensky wrote after speaking with Finnish President Alexander Stubb. Putin has previously ignored a 30-day ceasefire proposal from Washington and Kyiv. Last week, he also refused Zelensky’s offer to meet face-to-face in Istanbul. “Unfortunately, following the Trump–Putin phone call, the status quo has not changed,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Zelensky. European leaders were also cautious. After Trump briefed them about his call with Putin, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the EU would increase pressure on Russia through new sanctions. Trump said he wouldn’t support more sanctions just yet. “I think there’s a chance of getting something done,” he explained. “But there could be a time where that’s going to happen.” Discussions are still underway about where the next round of talks might happen. Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “So far, no specific decisions have been made regarding the location.” “We are primarily interested in a prompt settlement by eliminating the root causes of this conflict,” Peskov added. But former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor warned that Putin’s idea of “root causes” is dangerous. “He wants Ukraine to surrender. He wants Ukraine to disarm,” Taylor said in a CNN interview. “That’s what Putin means when he says ‘the root causes.’”

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