How to deal with people who won't confront communication

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Good afternoon, /adv/!

>friend and i live in opposite timezones now
>talk to friend every day either on the phone or texting
>comfortable enough to talk about nearly anything
>observant and focused on me when we're actually speaking or physically around one another
>sparse, distracted conversation at all other times
>vocalized my concerns twice, no changes in behavior
>decide this doesn't make me happy, try to cut back on talking
>friend gets really angry at me for trying to distance myself
>i tell them i'm unhappy with how things are
>makes accusation that withholding my affection doesn't help, ignores other issues
>go to bed annoyed, wakes up like nothing is wrong
>never brings up the issues again
>repeat

We talk constantly and I get frustrated with boring "filler" replies for hours to days at a time. We have no trouble with long meaningful conversations when we're speaking in person, this is only an issue online/when we text. I don't want to lose my friend but his unwillingness to address the issue makes me feel like I'm wasting my time. To reiterate, my problem is when he does this over long periods of time.

Are my expectations unrealistic? Am I just being strung around for entertainment? What can I do to fix things?