Trump has also publicly expressed his displeasure with Putin, saying the Russian dictator has been constantly suggesting all sorts of nonsense in his conversations with him. The last conversation took place on July 3, the day before Trump called Zelensky.

The newspaper's sources say that Zelensky's team was excited after their phone call on July 4.

A Ukrainian official told reporters that Trump told Zelensky on July 4 that Ukraine, by remaining on the defensive, would not change the course of the war and should go on the offensive. As previously reported by the Financial Times, when asked by Trump whether Ukraine could bomb Moscow or St. Petersburg, Zelensky replied:"If we have the right weapons, we can."

Later, Trump himself and the White House tried to soften what he said, with Trump announcing that no weapons would be delivered to Ukraine that could reach Moscow. A White House spokeswoman explained that Trump only wanted to obtain information, but did not call for strikes.

Less than two weeks after that conversation, Trump has decided to sell weapons to Ukraine at European expense. According to the Washington Post, Trump's allies say he has not abandoned his main goal - to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible. He agreed to the arms sale because"it will allow him to distance himself from supporting Ukraine while maintaining enough influence to pressure Moscow in favor of a peace agreement."