The US president, Donald Trump, had an early afternoon phone call today, Greece time, with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, a day after what Trump described as a disappointing conversation he had with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to the US news website Axios, Trump and Zelensky discussed the escalation of Russian attacks in Ukraine and the supply of air defence systems.

Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, called it an “important conversation between presidents.”

Trump, who last week had emphatically stated that Putin “seeks to settle” the war in Ukraine, indicated yesterday (Thursday) after a new telephone conversation with him that he was “disappointed”, assessing that the Russian leader did not want an end to the war.