(BBC News) Vladimir Putin said he will have to respond to Ukraine’s major drone attack on Russian airbases, US President Donald Trump has warned.
Speaking after a phone call with the Russian president, Trump said: “President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.”
Russian officials declined to confirm this on Wednesday night, but Moscow had earlier said that military options were “on the table” for its response.
Trump warned in a social media post that the phone call, which lasted more than an hour, would not “lead to immediate peace” between Russia and Ukraine.
Russia’s RIA Novosti, a state-owned news agency, said Putin told Trump that Ukraine has tried to “disrupt” the negotiations and that the government in Kyiv has “essentially turned into a terrorist organization.”
The two also “exchanged views on the prospects for restoring co-operation between the countries, which has enormous potential,” it said.
The conversation between the two leaders marks the first since Ukraine launched a surprise attack using smuggled drones to strike Russian airbases on June 1, targeting what it said were nuclear-capable long-range bombers.
Trump told Putin in the call that the US was not warned in advance of the attack, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said.
Ukraine’s Minister of Strategic Industries Yuriy Sak told Radio 4’s World Tonight program his country had hoped the US would respond to the “incessant Russian missile and drone attacks” with “more sanctions and with more pressure.”
Last week, Trump appeared to set a two-week deadline for Putin, threatening to change how the US is responding to Russia if he believed Putin was still “tapping” him along on peace efforts in Ukraine.
The comment was one of a string of critical remarks by Trump, who on May 26 said that Putin had gone “absolutely crazy” and was “playing with fire” after Russia escalated drone and missile attacks on cities in Ukraine, killing dozens of civilians.
Trump made no mention of a deadline or his previous remarks in Wednesday’s post on his Truth Social platform.
In a post on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talked about the scale Russian attacks on his country since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
“Many have spoken with Russia at various levels. But none of these talks have brought a reliable peace, or even stopped the war,” Zelensky wrote.
“If the world reacts weakly to Putin’s threats, he interprets it as a readiness to turn a blind eye to his actions,” he added.
On Wednesday, a delegation of Ukrainian officials including Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak were set to meet with US senators in Washington to discuss arms purchases and efforts to stop the fighting.
In a social media post, Yermak said that the delegation planned to discuss “defence support and the situation on the battlefield,” sanctions against Russia and a previously signed reconstruction investment fund.
The post comes just days after a second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul between the warring sides ended without a major breakthrough, although they agreed to swap more prisoners of war.
Ukrainian negotiators said Russia rejected an “unconditional ceasefire” – a key demand of Kyiv and its western allies including the US.
The Russian team said they had proposed multi-day ceasefires in “certain areas” of the frontline in Ukraine, although they gave no further details.
Trump has previously – and repeatedly – said he believes the two sides are making progress, despite ongoing fighting on the frontline and aerial attacks carried out in both Russia and Ukraine.
Separately on Wednesday, Putin had a call with the US-born Pope Leo XIV.
The Vatican confirmed that “particular attention” was paid to peace in the Ukraine war.
In Putin’s call with Trump, the two leaders also discussed Iran. Trump said he believed the two “were in agreement” that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
The US reportedly proposed Iran halt all production of enriched uranium – which can be used to make reactor fuel but also nuclear weapons – and instead rely on a regional consortium for supplies.
Iran has not yet responded to the plan presented at talks last Saturday.
According to Trump, Putin “suggested that he will participate in discussions with Iran and that he could, perhaps, be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion.”
“It is my opinion that Iran has been slow walking their decision on this very important matter,” Trump wrote. “We will need a definitive answer in a very short period of time.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei has criticized the US proposal and said it will not stop enriching uranium.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2r108l785o
