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

The United States must stop supporting Kyiv to help end Russia's war against Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian state broadcaster VGTRK on Sept. 9.

The remarks came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with U.S. President Donald Trump, as Washington intensifies efforts to revive peace negotiations.

"First and foremost... they should stop providing any assistance to Kyiv," Ushakov said, adding that Putin had outlined possible steps the U.S. could take to help end the war during the call.

While the U.S. has stopped committing direct financial and military aid to Ukraine, Kyiv's allies can still purchase U.S. weapons for Ukraine via a NATO mechanism. Washington also continues to share intelligence with Kyiv that helps Ukrainian forces strike targets inside Russia.

Ushakov's remarks follow visits by Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to Moscow and, for the first time, Kyiv over the weekend as part of efforts to break the deadlock in peace talks.

People familiar with the talks told the Kyiv Independent that the envoys brought revised peace proposals, but no breakthrough was achieved as Putin appears intent on escalating Russia's war.

President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters after the Kyiv meeting that he expects "the war will continue" into the winter months despite the new peace push.

The most tangible outcome of the trip was an agreement between Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia to resume trilateral negotiations. Previous rounds of such talks produced little political progress but resulted in major humanitarian initiatives, including prisoner-of-war exchanges.

Ushakov said the Kremlin remains open to continuing negotiations in a U.S.-Russia-Ukraine format in the United Arab Emirates. Moscow considers Abu Dhabi, where several rounds of talks took place earlier this year, its preferred venue.

"We're talking about resuming the negotiation process with Ukraine that took place previously," Ushakov said. "We've also discussed this with our American colleagues, so it's possible that this process will resume in a trilateral format."

Putin told the U.S. envoys on Sept. 5 that he expects Russia to achieve its "goals" and that Moscow wants the so-called "root causes" of the war resolved.

The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected a ceasefire and demanded that Kyiv cede the partially occupied and strategically vital Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine has instead called for a ceasefire along the current front lines while stressing the need for Western-backed security guarantees to deter future potential Russian aggression.