US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have repeatedly called each other this year and exchanged messages through intermediaries, sources say, reports The Wall Street Journal.

A senior US official said that Putin and Trump's conversations were usually friendly. During the talks, the US president often spoke about his wish to restore US-Russia relations based on economic cooperation. Vladimir Putin, in turn, spoke about his grievances and demands, including international recognition of Russia's control over Crimea and the Donbas.

Putin and Trump's phone calls sometimes lasted several hours due to the Russian president's long monologues that had to be translated, current and former US officials said. According to them, Trump, who is usually impatient and eager to start a conversation, listened attentively.

But the phone call on July 3 lasted just an hour, much shorter than previous conversations. One of the sources told The Wall Street Journal that this conversation, however, lacked the previous warmth and had moments of conflict, and Trump ended the conversation confused. Later, the American leader said that Putin told him during the conversations that he wanted to stop the war, while the Russian army continued to bomb Ukraine.