President Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Wednesday morning after holding a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday about the war in Ukraine. Brian Taylor, professor of political science and director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, spoke with CBS News about the phone calls. (Interview begins at 3:14)

“If you look at what the Kremlin put out, based upon the phone call between presidents Trump and Putin, their characterization of it was much more sober and it was clear that Putin reiterated his constant talking points about the need to get to what he calls the ‘root causes’ of the conflict,” says Taylor.

“As far as he's concerned, the basic root cause is that Ukraine wants to pursue a domestic and foreign policy independent of Russian control, and he wants to put an end to that,” Taylor says.

“So, when we look at it that way and look at all of the other things that Putin has asked for before an actual ceasefire, in terms of limits on military support and intelligence support, recognition of some of the gains they've received on the battlefield but not achieved politically, it's clear that Putin hasn't changed his initial position very much at all. It's more he's trying to play ball with Trump, at least in terms of the public messaging, so Trump doesn't get angry at Russia and start t blame the conflict on Russia, which of course, was the instigator of the conflict in the first place,” he says.

In the CNN article, “The stark divide between what Putin said and what he meant,” Taylor say, “Putin’s answer seems carefully crafted to sound like a ‘yes’ to Trump but be a ‘no’ in practice, unless Ukraine is forced to submit to Russia’s demands.”