Russia Sends Independence Day Greetings To Trump White House

The Kremlin has sent the American government and people July 4th well wishes, which comes as somewhat of a surprise. But Moscow and Washington have been working on trying to improve bilateral relations under the Trump administration, while also seeking to forge an opening for permanent truce in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday issued a formal Independence Day message to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the American people on the occasion of the American nation’s founding.

The message released by the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed hope for improved ties, stability, and a unified vision between the two nuclear armed powers and longtime rivals.

“I expect that together we can put the relations between our nations on a creative vector, make them stable and predictable based on mutual respect for national interests determined by history, geography, and ‘realities on the ground,’” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin extended his best wishes to President Trump in a phone call the day prior; however, Trump the next day expressed disappointment, as a note from Newsquawk describes:

President Trump said he had a long call with Russian President Putin in which they talked about Iran and the war in Ukraine but added that there was no progress with Putin. Trump later commented that he will be speaking to Ukrainian President Zelensky on Friday and is disappointed with the conversation with Russian President Putin, while he doesn’t think Putin is looking to stop.

They spoke for nearly an hour. According to more:

Putin told Trump that Russia will not step back from its goals in Ukraine, while they had a detailed discussion on Iran and the Middle East. Furthermore, Putin emphasized the importance of settling the Iran issue exclusively by diplomatic means and Trump again raised the issue of bringing the Ukraine conflict to a swift halt

And Putin showed that he’s not stepping back, given the massive and apparently record-setting overnight drone attack on Ukraine – said to be among the largest since the war began.

On X, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha said, “Hundreds of Russian drones and ballistic missiles rained down on the Ukrainian capital.” He described the attack as “one of the worst so far.” 

This is why Trump promptly told reporters on Thursday just before boarding Air Force One on his way to Iowa that he was “not happy” with the conflict raging on, adding, “I didn’t make any progress with him at all.”