Trump says Putin told him that Russia will respond to Ukrainian attack
on airfields
[June 05, 2025]
By HANNA ARHIROVA and MICHELLE L. PRICE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Russian President
Vladimir Putin told him “very strongly” in a phone call Wednesday that
he will respond to Ukraine’s weekend drone attack on Russian airfields
as the deadlock over the war drags on.
Trump said in a social media post that his lengthy call with Putin "was
a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate
Peace.”
It's the first time Trump has weighed in on Ukraine's daring attack
inside Russia. The U.S. did not have advance notice of the operation,
according to the White House, a point Trump emphasized during the call
with Putin, according to Putin’s foreign affairs adviser.
The call comes as the U.S. leads a diplomatic push to broker a peace
deal following nearly 3½ years of war.
Trump, in his post, did not say how he reacted to Putin's promise to
respond to Ukraine's attack, but it showed none of the frustration that
Trump has expressed with his Russian counterpart in recent weeks over
his prolonging of the war.
Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, said at a briefing that
the two leaders characterized the call as “positive and quite
productive.”
“I believe it was useful for Trump to hear our assessments of what
happened,” Ushakov said, noting that the discussion of the attacks was
one of the key topics.
Zelenskyy responds to Trump-Putin call
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media: “Many have
spoken with Russia at various levels. But none of these talks have
brought a reliable peace, or even stopped the war. Unfortunately, Putin
feels impunity.”
The Ukrainian leader urged more pressure on Russia and said that Putin’s
planned response “means, that with every new strike, with every delay of
diplomacy, Russia is giving the finger to the entire world — to all
those who still hesitate to increase pressure on it.”
The sentiment was echoed by top Zelenskyy adviser Andrii Yermak, who
said at a briefing in Washington that Russia understands strength and
doesn't have the political will to end the war.
But that “does not mean Ukraine closed the door to continue the
negotiations,” said Yermak, who was part of a Ukrainian delegation that
met with lawmakers, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve
Witkoff and other officials in the U.S. this week.
Trump has repeatedly promised to end the war quickly but lost patience
in recent weeks, publicly pleading with Putin to stop fighting and even
saying the Russian leader “has gone absolutely CRAZY."
Trump, however, has not committed to backing a bipartisan push to
further sanction Russia.
The call was Trump’s first known talk with Putin since May 19. They also
discussed, according to Trump and Ushakov, Iran’s nuclear program and
the possibility of Russia engaging in talks with Tehran.
It was not clear if Trump also planned to speak with Zelenskyy. The
White House did not respond to a message Wednesday afternoon.
Zelenskyy and Putin weigh in on the state of talks
The Ukrainian leader earlier Wednesday dismissed Russia's conditions for
a ceasefire as “an ultimatum” and renewed his call for direct talks with
Putin to break the stalemate.
Putin, however, showed no willingness to meet with Zelenskyy, expressing
anger Wednesday about what he said were Ukraine's recent “terrorist
acts” on Russian rail lines in the Kursk and Bryansk regions on the
countries' border.
“How can any such (summit) meetings be conducted in such circumstances?
What shall we talk about?” Putin asked in a video call with top Russian
officials.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a cabinet meeting via
videoconference at Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside of Moscow,
Russia, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin
Pool Photo via AP)
Putin accused Ukraine of seeking a truce only to replenish its
stockpiles of Western arms, recruit more soldiers and prepare new
attacks.
He also spoke Wednesday to Pope Leo XIV, who has promised to make “
every effort ” to help end the war.
Leo urged Putin to make a gesture that would promote peace and stressed
the importance of dialogue, the Vatican said.
Russia and Ukraine had exchanged memos setting out their conditions for
a ceasefire for discussion Monday in Istanbul, the second direct meeting
in just over two weeks.
Russia and Ukraine have established red lines that make a quick deal
unlikely. The Kremlin's proposal contained a list of demands that Kyiv
and its Western allies see as nonstarters.
The second round of talks lasted just over an hour and made no progress
on ending the war, with the sides agreeing only to swap thousands of
their dead and seriously wounded troops.
Also, a new prisoner exchange with Russia could take place over the
weekend, Zelenskyy said.
He described the latest negotiations as “a political performance” and
“artificial diplomacy” designed to stall for time, delay sanctions and
convince the United States that Russia is engaged in dialogue.
Military strikes continue during diplomacy
In tandem with the talks, both sides have kept up military actions along
the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.
Ukraine’s Security Service gave more details Wednesday about its
spectacular weekend drone strike on Russian air bases, which it claimed
destroyed or damaged 41 aircraft, including strategic bombers.
It released more footage showing drones swooping under and over parked
aircraft and featuring some planes burning. It claimed the planes struck
included A-50, Tu-95, Tu-22, Tu-160, An-12, and Il-78 aircraft. It said
the drones had highly automated capabilities, partly piloted by an
operator and partly by artificial intelligence that flew the devices
along a planned route in case the signal was lost.
The drones were not fully autonomous and a “human is still choosing what
target to hit,” said Caitlin Lee, a drone warfare expert at RAND, a
think thank.
Ukraine’s security agency said it also set off an explosion Tuesday on
the seabed beneath the Kerch Bridge, a vital transport link between
Russia and illegally annexed Crimea, claiming it caused damage to the
structure.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there was no damage.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that its troops have taken
control of another village in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, on the
border with Russia.
Putin announced on May 22 that Russian troops aim to create a buffer
zone that might help prevent Ukrainian cross-border attacks. Since then,
Russia claims it has taken control of nine Sumy villages.
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Arhirova reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. AP writers Illia Novikov in Kyiv,
Chris Megerian and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington, Emma Burrows in
London, Nicole Winfield in Rome, Katie Marie Davies in Manchester,
England, contributed reporting.
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