Trump: Putin told me that « very strong » will respond to Ukrainian attack on airports

US President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin told him « very strong » in a telephone conversation Wednesday that he would respond to the Ukrainian drone attack on Russian airport

The US president said in a social media post that his long conversation with Putin « was good, but was not a conversation that would lead to instant peace ».

This is the first time Trump has pleaded for Ukraine’s bold attack in Russia. The United States was not informed in advance of the operation, according to the White House, the point Trump emphasized during a conversation with Putin, according to Putin’s foreign affairs adviser.

The United States has recently led diplomatic pressure to halt the full invasion, which began on February 24, 2022.

Trump, in his social media post, did not say how he reacted to Putin’s promise to respond to Ukraine’s attack, but his post showed no frustration that Trump expressed his Russian counterpart in recent weeks over his continuation of the war.

Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, told the briefing that the two leaders described the conversation as « positive and quite productive » and confirmed their readiness to stay in touch.

« I believe it was useful for Trump to hear our assessments of what happened, » Ushakov said, noting that the discussion of the attacks was one of the key points in the conversation. He did not answer the question of what the Russian response could be.

Trump was constantly promising to end the war quickly, and even said he would achieve it before he was sworn in. But he has lost patience with Putin in recent weeks, publicly begging him to stop fighting, and even said late last month that the Russian leader « absolutely crazy ».

However, Trump has not committed to supporting a bipartisan attempt to sanction Putin.

The phone call was Trump’s first known conversation with Putin since May 19. According to Trump and Ushakov, they also discussed Iran’s nuclear program and the possibility of Russia engaging in talks with Tehran, while the United States is pushing it to abandon its rapid progressing nuclear program.

It was unclear whether Trump was planning to talk to Greenski. The White House did not respond to a message on Wednesday afternoon.

Greenski rejects the Russian plan and stands for talks.

The Ukrainian leader earlier Wednesday rejected Russia’s ceasefire plan as an « ultimatum » and reiterated the call for direct talks with Putin to stop the deadlock around the war, which lasts nearly 3.5 years.

However, Putin has not shown a willingness to meet with Greenski, expressing anger on Wednesday because of what he said was Ukraine’s recent « terrorist acts » on Russian railway lines in the Kursk and Brijansk regions at the border between the two countries.

– How can such (summit) meetings be held in such circumstances? What will we talk about? – Putin asked in a video with senior Russian officials.

Putin accused Ukraine of seeking a truce just to complement his Western weapons stock, recruit more soldiers and prepare new attacks like those in Kursk and Brijansk.

The two sides exchanged memorandums stating their ceasefire conditions for discussion of direct peace talks between delegations on Monday in Istanbul, their second meeting in just over two weeks. Greenski had earlier caused Putin to meet him in Turkey, but Putin abstained.

Russia and Ukraine have set red lines that make a quick deal are unlikely, despite international diplomatic pressure led by the United States to stop fighting. The Kremlin’s proposal from Istanbul contained a list of demands that Kiev and his Western allies consider unsuccessful.

Greenski said the second round of talks in Istanbul was no different from the first meeting of May 16. Greenski described the latest negotiations in Istanbul as a « political performance » and « artificial diplomacy » designed to delay time, delay sanctions and convince the United States that Russia is involved in dialogue.

– The same ultimatums they talked about then – now they just put them on paper … Honestly, this document looks like spam. It is a spam intended to flood us and create the impression that they are doing something – said Zemeski in his first reaction to the Russian document.

The Ukrainian leader said he did not see much value in continuing talks at the current level of delegations. Defense Minister Rustem Skirov led the Ukrainian delegation to Istanbul, while Vladimir Medinsky, Putin’s assistant, led the Russian team.

Greenski said he wanted a ceasefire with Russia ahead of a possible summit with Putin, which will eventually participate in Trump in an attempt to remove obstacles to the peace treaty.

The second round of peace talks on Monday between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul lasted just over an hour and brought no progress on the end of the war. They only agreed to exchange thousands of their dead and severely wounded soldiers.

« Also, a new exchange of prisoners with Russia could happen over the weekend, » Greenski said.

In parallel with the talks, the two sides continued with offensive military actions along the 1,000km -long front line and carried out in -depth attacks.

The Ukrainian security service on Wednesday gave more details on the spectacular weekend attack with drones on Russian air bases, which claims it destroyed or damaged 41 Russian aircraft, including strategic bombers.

The agency released more footage showing drones moving below and above parked planes, and some are flames. It is also claimed that the affected aircraft included A-50, Tu-95, Tu-22, Tu-160, An-12 and IL-78 aircraft, adding that drones had highly automated capabilities and partially piloted by an operator, and partly using artificial intelligence that aired the drone.

The drones were not fully autonomous and « the man is still choosing which goal to hit, » said Caitlin Lee, an expert on drone warfare in Rand, a think-tank organization.

The Ukrainian security agency said it caused an explosion on the seabed under the Kerk Bridge on Tuesday, a vital transport link between Russia and the illegally annexed Crimea, claiming it caused damage to the structure.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that there was no damage.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that his troops had taken control of another village in the northern Ukrainian region, at the border with Russia. Putin announced on May 22 that Russian troops aim to create a buffer zone that could help prevent Ukrainian cross -border attacks. Since then, the Russian Defense Ministry has claimed that his forces have taken control of nine villages in a Mummy region.