ITALY PERSPECTIVE

Rome, July 5, 2026. Diplomatic channels are active again. Donald Trump spent one hour and twenty-five minutes on the phone with Vladimir Putin, according to Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin adviser. The United States initiated the call, according to Moscow: 'The United States took the initiative for the conversation between Putin and Trump, a very significant fact.'

Italian press underscores the timing: this call comes forty-eight hours before the NATO summit in Ankara, scheduled for July 7-8, which Trump will attend. The signal is clear—Washington is entering the Atlantic Alliance summit with negotiating elements in hand. The Kremlin confirmed that Putin renewed his invitation to Trump for a visit to Russia.

On the Ukrainian side, Zelensky described his conversation with Trump as 'molto positiva' (very positive), believing that 'there is a real possibility to end this war.' But he immediately clarified that 'American determination will be of decisive importance.' The two leaders will meet in Ankara in the days ahead.

Yet the battlefield contradicts diplomatic optimism. The ANSA news agency reports that on July 4, Russia used guided aerial bombs against central Sumy. The toll: four dead, including a five-year-old child and her mother, and twenty-seven wounded, six of them children. Zelensky urged his partners to 'put pressure on Russia to end this terror,' citing the United States, the G7, and Europe, along with their leverage over Russian energy and financial systems.

Adnkronos also reports that Putin's confidence rating, according to the VTsIOM institute, dropped to 73.3 percent—a fall of 3.4 points in a single week. Approval for his actions fell to 66.9 percent. Meanwhile, a Gallup poll shows that 60 percent of Russians judge the economic situation in their city has deteriorated—the worst figure since 2006—against a backdrop of fuel shortages caused by Ukrainian strikes on refineries.

Rome presents this call as a fragile opening, caught between genuine diplomatic signals and simultaneous military violence. Italy, a NATO member, is watching closely the evolution of American positioning ahead of the Ankara summit, where the Meloni government must navigate between Atlantic solidarity and pressure from public opinion.