The devastating attack on the Ukrainian capital occurred just hours after the president declared Russia “ready” for peace.
President Donald Trump slammed Moscow’s deadly overnight onslaught on Kyiv on Thursday, calling on Vladimir Putin to put an end to the bloodshed in a rare rebuke of his Russian counterpart.
The attack, which targeted at least five neighbourhoods in the Ukrainian capital, killed at least 12 people and injured about 90, making it the worst attack on Kyiv since last summer, according to The Associated Press.
In a statement on his Truth Social platform, Trump described the attack as “not necessary” and ill-timed, while also sending a direct message to Putin.
“I am not happy aboutabout the Russian strikes on KYIV,” he said in an email. “Vladimir, STOP!”
“Let’s get the peace deal done!” he added.
The incident occurred hours after Trump stated that “Russia is ready” for peace, as the Trump administration is urging both parties to agree to end the three-year conflict.
“I think we have a deal with Russia,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “We have to get a deal with Zelenskyy.”
“I figured it would be easier to deal with Zelenskyy. So far, it’s been more difficult,” he explained.
On Wednesday, Trump also chastised the Ukrainian commander for refusing to give Crimea to Russia as part of any prospective peace deal.
“There is nothing to discuss. “It is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people,” Zelenskyy declared.
In a Truth Social post, Trump referred to Zelenskyy’s statements as “inflammatory”.
“The statement made by Zelenskyy [on Wednesday] will do nothing but prolong the ‘killing field,’ and nobody wants that!” Trump stated. “We are very close to a Deal, but the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE.”
Trump’s tone matched the language he used against Ukraine’s president during their historic Oval Office confrontation earlier this year, when Trump accused him of “gambling with World War III.”
