Putin tells Trump Moscow does not have aggressive plans towards Europe

The news comes after European officials expressed concern about Russian sabotage campaigns on their soil. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that US envoys who visited Kyiv presented some 'very good, worthwhile ideas' for ending Russia's four-and-a-half-year war, adding that he hoped to meet Mr Trump within two weeks. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, met US envoy Steve Witkoff, left, for talks in Moscow on Saturday (Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) But Russia remains determined to accomplish its military goals and it believes it is close to winning, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Ukrainian and western observers believe that Moscow has been unable to make any significant progress on the front line. The war could yet drag on for years as Russia reconstitutes its forces and its defence industry, US undersecretary of defence Elbridge Colby said. 'We must be prepared for a protracted conflict and for Ukraine's requirements to persist in the months and years ahead,' Mr Colby told an online meeting of countries helping Ukraine. Washington envoys Jared Kushner, left, and Mr Witkoff, centre, visited Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, right, at the weekend (Francisco Seco/AP) US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visited Moscow and Kyiv for separate talks with Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky over the weekend. The meetings appeared to produce no substantial breakthrough on ending the fighting, and both countries resumed their deadly air war after a weekend truce in their capitals for the American visitors. The attacks killed seven people and injured 28 in Kyiv and the surrounding region, authorities said, while officials from Russia reported three people killed and 13 wounded in areas it controls. Yuri Ushakov, Mr Putin's foreign affairs adviser, said the hour-long conversation between Mr Putin and Mr Trump was 'constructive and quite frank'. There was no immediate White House comment on the call. Mr Ushakov told reporters that 'in view of the speculation about Russia's alleged hostile intentions toward European countries, it was underlined that we don't have any aggressive plans regarding Europe'. In Kyiv and the region, as well as in many other regions, efforts to deal with the aftermath of the Russian strike have been underway since last night. It was a complex attack that the Russians tried to plan to cause as much harm to life as possible – ballistic missiles, cruise… pic.twitter.com/A6QNY51ltd — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 8, 2026 Mr Ushakov also said Mr Putin told Mr Trump about the combat situation in Ukraine and Russia's plans to make battlefield gains and achieve its military goals. He said that Moscow has a positive view of the results of the weekend visit to Moscow by Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner. 'An objective and thorough analysis of the ongoing special military operation and generally our view of prospective battlefield advances and the achievement of the special military operation's goals and tasks was given,' Mr Ushakov said. Mr Zelensky said he is counting on meeting Mr Trump around September 20 — about the same time that the UN General Assembly is being held in New York. Mr Putin is not expected to attend. He indicated he will press Mr Trump to provide more Patriot air defence systems that Kyiv needs to counter Russia's ballistic missiles. UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, centre, has said Ukraine needs two billion US dollars for more drones (James Manning/Pool Photo via AP) Ukraine needs 300 Patriot missiles from its partners' stocks, 500 air-to-air interceptors and two billion US dollars for more drones, UK defence secretary Wes Streeting told the meeting of countries providing help. Also on Tuesday, the European Commission approved a loan of 3.2 billion euros for Kyiv to purchase components for Patriot air defence systems, Ukraine's defence ministry said on its Telegram channel. Mr Zelensky thanked US officials for their efforts to unblock negotiations with Russia, which have been stuck since early this year with little progress. 'As for the peace package that Kushner spoke about and the new ideas, I'll tell you frankly, there were indeed a couple of very good, worthwhile ideas,' Mr Zelensky said in audio messages answering reporters' questions. The proposals will remain under wraps for now, he said, but he expressed hope that talks involving delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the US can take place in the autumn. Ukraine is 'ready to find a compromise' on the issues of grain exports and energy, he said. Overnight attacks by Russia caused significant damage to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure in Kyiv (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) Moscow and Kyiv have targeted each other's grain ships in the Black Sea, raising concerns that two of the world's major suppliers will not be able to get their produce to market. Ukraine has also battered Russian oil facilities, while Russia has pounded Ukraine's power grid ahead of winter. Mr Peskov said he believed 'victory is very close' on the battlefield. 'We're very confident in our military potential,' he told reporters, while insisting Russia wants to find a peaceful solution and welcomes Mr Trump's diplomatic efforts. Meanwhile, Romania's ministry of national defence said a drone entered its territory and later crashed in neighbouring Moldova east of the countries' shared border after about 30 minutes. Two Spanish F-18 warplanes tracked its trajectory, the ministry said. Moldovan police said a drone crashed in a sunflower field outside a village in the Riscani district, causing fires but no-one was injured. Ukraine neighbours both Romania and Moldova, and the countries have reported dozens of drone incidents since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.