During a July 4 phone call lasting roughly an hour and a half, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump discussed the conflict in Ukraine, according to Russia’s foreign ministry. Officials there characterized the exchange as pragmatic and productive, adding that Trump restated his desire to assist in rapidly halting the hostilities. The discussion took place as Russian troops intensified operations in Ukraine’s Donetsk region and just before a NATO summit in Turkey. Ukraine, for its part, kept targeting Russian oil and power infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that he also had a positive conversation with Trump, describing America’s involvement as critical to ending the war.