Trump calls precede NATO summit
Local residents walk past burning garages outside a residential building following a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian capital Kiev on July 6, 2026, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Genya Savilov | Afp | Getty Images
The long-running Russia-Ukraine war appears to have entered a new phase following major developments over the weekend and ahead of the critical NATO summit.
US President Donald Trump met separately with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the last 72 hours, and Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were sent to St. It was claimed that it hit the oil terminal and port in and around St. Petersburg, launching Russia’s second large-scale attack on Kiev in less than a week.
The prospect of renewed diplomacy, along with escalation risk, has captured investors’ attention at a time when markets are trying to price in geopolitical risk, energy security and the integrity of Europe’s defense spending promises.
“There is a real possibility to end this war, and America’s determination is decisive,” Zelenskyy said. in question in a social media post on Saturday.
What did Trump talk about with Putin and Zelenskyy?
Ukraine’s president said he discussed the latest situation on the front line after more than four years of conflict and agreed with Trump to continue negotiations at the NATO summit. Heads of state from 32 countries are expected to attend the two-day conference in Ankara, the capital of Türkiye, as of Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said on Sunday that Trump spoke with Putin for 90 minutes over the weekend, during which the US president offered to help find a solution to the war.
Yury Ushakon, a Kremlin aide, described the meeting as “serious and highly constructive,” according to the Russian state news outlet. RIA Novosti.
U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the White House on Sunday, July 5, 2026 in Washington, DC, USA.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
“There are tremendous prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries. To achieve this, Donald Trump emphasized that it will be necessary to end the Ukrainian conflict as soon as possible,” Ushakov told reporters.
A White House spokesperson contacted by CNBC on Monday was not immediately available for comment.
The US president, who repeatedly said during the 2024 election campaign that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in one day, signaled that American support for Kiev would be renewed after the signing of an interim peace agreement with Iran.
This proposal, along with Ukraine’s deep offensive successes, has led some analysts to conclude that the war could tip in Kiev’s favor; Putin recently acknowledged for the first time the impact of Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russia’s fuel production.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian oil facilities and military assets in recent weeks in an attempt to cut off Moscow’s energy revenues and increase political pressure on the Kremlin.
Ukraine hit oil terminal in Russia
Ukrainian officials said forces were in Russia’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg, on Friday and Saturday. It reported hitting a major oil terminal in St. Petersburg as well as the Kronstadt Naval Base, the main base of the Russian Baltic Fleet. It was reported that the attacks caused fires at both the oil terminal and the military facility.
In response, Russian missiles and drones struck Ukraine’s capital early Monday, killing at least 11 people and heavily damaging residential high-rise buildings. in question.
The attack, on the eve of the NATO summit, followed a separate deadly attack on Kiev last week.
Researchers at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, in question Referring to Ushakov’s statement on the call, Putin had sought to emphasize that Ukraine’s European partners had a misperception of battlefield realities.
Instead, Putin was said to have briefed Trump on the “real” frontline situation where Russian troops were advancing, and Putin claimed that Russian forces had captured the eastern town of Kostyantynivka.
In this pool photo distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the Kursk regional governor in Moscow on June 30, 2026.
Gavriil Grigorov | Afp | Getty Images
In its latest assessment, the ISW said Russia’s claims of advances came after the Trump administration increasingly spoke publicly about Ukraine’s battlefield successes, including medium- and long-term attacks on Russia’s military assets and energy infrastructure.
“Putin and other Kremlin officials are deliberately injecting false narratives that Russian forces will soon seize the rest of Donetsk Oblast into Western information space to persuade the West to capitulate to demands that Russia cannot secure militarily,” ISW researchers said on Sunday.
