The Kremlin said on Friday that it did not believe that a tougher stance U.S. President Donald Trump has adopted towards Russia over its war in Ukraine means the end of U.S-Russia talks aimed at reviving their battered ties.

Trump’s decision to allow weapon sales to Ukraine culminated a five-month effort by allies to help Volodymyr Zelensky rebuild a relationship with the president.

Former Ukraine aid critics now back Trump's strategy requiring European funding for weapons to Kyiv after the president pivoted his frustration from Zelenskyy to Putin.

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to ramp up arms shipments to Ukraine is a signal to Kyiv to abandon peace efforts, Russia said on Thursday, vowing it would not accept the "blackmail" of Washington's new sanctions ultimatum.

In response, 65 percent of Trump voters backed the provision of arms to Ukraine, almost three times the 22 percent who opposed the move. The results suggest a shift in attitudes among Trump supporters toward aid for Ukraine over the past six months.

"He's come to the same conclusion as all of us, he's playing us," one European official said of President Donald Trump's new take on Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

President Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky whether Kyiv was able to hit Moscow and St. Petersburg, according to a senior Ukrainian official familiar with their exchange in a July 4 phone call.

President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy are considering a deal that involves Washington buying battlefield-tested Ukrainian drones in exchange for Kyiv purchasing weapons from the U.