President Trump said on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him that Moscow would have to respond to the Ukrainian drone attack that targeted airfields deep inside Russia.
“I just finished speaking, by telephone, with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia. The call lasted approximately one hour and 15 minutes,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“We discussed the attack on Russia’s docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides. 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,” the president added.
The Ukrainian drone attack was launched by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) using drones that were launched from trucks near the Russian airfields, and at least 13 aircraft were hit, including Tu-95 strategic bombers, which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
While the CIA is deeply involved with the SBU, officials are claiming the US didn’t provide intelligence for the attack. According to the Kremlin, Trump also told Putin he was not informed of the plan. “Donald Trump reiterated that the Americans had not been informed about this in advance,” said Putin aide Yury Ushakov.
The Ukrainian drone attack came a day after Russian and Ukrainian officials held their second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul on Monday. While the two sides agreed to a major prisoner swap, it didn’t appear that they made progress on a ceasefire, as they remain very far apart on terms for a peace deal.
Trump also said that he discussed Iran with Putin. “I stated to President Putin that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and, on this, I believe that we were in agreement. 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,” he said.
“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!” the president added.
Trump has been threatening to bomb Iran if a deal isn’t reached on its nuclear program even though US intelligence agencies recently reaffirmed that there’s no evidence Tehran is building a bomb or that Khamenei has reversed his ban on the development of nuclear weapons.
