President Donald Trump claimed he held an hourlong phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where the two leaders discussed recent Ukrainian attacks. Trump said the call lasted about one hour and 15 minutes, noting that it was ‘not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace.’
‘We discussed the attack on Russia’s docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides,’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. ‘It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace. President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.’
On Sunday, Ukrainian forces destroyed 40 of Russia’s most powerful bomber jets and surveillance planes in ‘Operation Spider’s Web,’ a series of coordinated drone strikes penetrating deep into Russian territory. Russia’s defense ministry confirmed the attack, saying it struck five airfields.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky personally oversaw the strike, which sources told Fox News was more than 18 months in the making. The White House confirmed that the Trump administration was not informed about the attack in advance.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian Security Service said Ukraine carried out a massive underwater blast targeting a bridge linking Russia to Crimea. Zelensky also stated that Russia launched a ‘savage strike’ on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, ‘directly targeting the city and its ordinary streets with rocket artillery.’
A Russian readout of the phone call said that the ‘Kremlin believes that the Kyiv regime has degenerated into a terrorist organization.’
‘Putin spoke in detail about the results of the talks in Istanbul, calling them useful,’ Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Trump has pushed for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, which have so far not yielded an end to the three-year conflict. He has begun to sour on Putin’s reluctance to find a peaceful end to the ongoing conflict.
The latest round of negotiations in Istanbul ended without a ceasefire, and Putin’s recent demands for large chunks of territory in exchange for peace have been nonstarters for Zelensky.
Trump further said that he and Putin also discussed Iran during the hourlong phone call. Trump wrote that ‘time is running out on Iran’s decision pertaining to nuclear weapons.’
‘I stated to President Putin that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and, on this, I believe that we were in agreement,’ he wrote. ‘President Putin suggested that he will participate in the 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 slowwalking their decision on this very important matter, and we will need a definitive answer in a very short period of time!’