President Trump says he is “not happy” with President Putin about trying to end the war in Ukraine. Not only has no progress been made, but after Mr. Trump spoke with the Russian president on Thursday, Mr. Putin launched one of the deadliest attacks on Kyiv since the start of the war.
Messrs. Trump and Putin spoke by phone on Thursday to try to kickstart the stalled peace process, which the Russians have said they have been open to for months despite constantly going back on their word. Mr. Trump said that unlike past conversations, he walked away from this talk with Mr. Putin unhappy.
“It was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things, including Iran, and we also talked about, as you know, the war with Ukraine, and I’m not happy about that,” the president said on Thursday. “I didn’t make any progress … at all.”
Just hours later, President Zelensky said that the Russians had launched hundreds of drones and missiles at his country, primarily at its capital.
According to the Associated Press, the multi-hour bombing of Kyiv left one person dead and dozens injured, including a child. The attacks follow additional aerial strikes last week, which left several Ukrainians dead across multiple regions.
Mr. Zelensky said Russia must now face the consequences.
“All of this is clear evidence that without truly large-scale pressure, Russia will not change its dumb, destructive behavior,” the Ukrainian president said in a post on X. “For every such strike against people and human life, they must feel appropriate sanctions and other blows to their economy, their revenues, and their infrastructure. This is the only thing that can be achieved quickly to change the situation for the better.”
Mr. Zelensky later said that he and Mr. Trump had spoken on Friday morning. After wishing him a happy independence day, Mr. Zelensky thanked Mr. Trump for his support.
“Today we discussed the current situation, including Russian airstrikes and the broader frontline developments. President Trump is very well informed, and I thank him for his attention to Ukraine,” he said in a statement on X. “We spoke about opportunities in air defense and agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies.”
Mr. Zelensky says there will be a meeting between American and Ukrainian officials to discuss a path forward.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said at a press conference on Friday that America must be committed to respecting Russia’s security concerns about Ukraine before peace talks can move forward, according to the state media outlet TASS.
“We will not accept any solution that disregards Russia’s legitimate security interests or fails to guarantee that violations of the rights of Russian and Russian-speaking people will not be repeated,” Mr. Lavrov told members of the press.
He added that America must take a “balanced and pragmatic stance on Ukrainian affairs, as well as for its genuine commitment to promoting a peaceful settlement, including by offering a venue for U.S.-Russia talks.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
