Trump said on Truth Social he is ‘not happy’ with massive Russian air strikes on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Thursday.
U.S. President Donald Trump has told Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt strikes on Ukraine, after Kyiv was pounded with missiles and drones on Thursday.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”
The Ukrainian government said that at least nine people were killed and more than 70 injured in the largest attack on the capital since July 2024.
The Kyiv city military administration said on its Telegram channel that a number of drones and ballistic missiles had hit the city.
Rescue operations are ongoing on Thursday in an effort to find more bodies under the debris, and it is feared the death toll could rise.
The strikes took place while the U.S. government is seeking to broker a truce in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Trump accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of prolonging the “killing field” by refusing to give up the Crimean Peninsula to Russia as part of a peace deal.
Crimea, which has an ethnic Russian majority, was transferred to the Soviet republic of Ukraine in 1954 by the then-leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev.
It was included in the state when Ukraine became independent in 1991, but separatists broke away from Kyiv in 2014, and Russia annexed it later that year, after holding a referendum.
The Ukrainian leader—who was elected president in 2019 and has remained in power because elections have been deferred until the war is over—has repeatedly said he will not agree to hand over any territory that Russia has occupied since the February 2022 invasion.
Zelenskyy Points Finger at Moscow
Zelenskyy pointed out on Thursday that Ukraine had agreed to the cease-fire proposal put forward by the United States 44 days ago but that Moscow had continued its attacks.
