President Donald Trump decried Russia’s massive aerial barrage on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, overnight as “not necessary” and urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to “STOP!”
Ukrainian officials said Russia launched 70 missiles and 145 drones in its attack on Kyiv. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said the attack resulted in at least eight deaths and more than 70 people being injured.
The attack, one of the worst against Kyiv in months, comes as the United States is trying to broker an end to the conflict. Senior Trump administration officials have warned they could walk away from those efforts if their current push is unsuccessful.
“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying,” Trump said on Truth Social on Thursday morning. “Lets get the Peace Deal DONE.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has decided to shorten his trip to South Africa following the aerial assault.
Trump and his administration have sought to reach a deal to end the war, but Russian officials have continued to drag their feet on these efforts. While Ukrainian leaders have also pushed for a better framework, Trump has appeared more willing to punish them than Russian leaders for the prolonged conflict.
Just a day ago, Trump criticized Zelensky for making remarks about Crimea, the Ukrainian territory Russia annexed in 2014, that were “very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia.”
“There is nothing to talk about,” Zelensky said earlier this week in response to reports that the peace proposal could include recognizing Russia’s annexation of Crimea. “This violates our Constitution. This is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine.”
Trump’s criticism of Putin and Zelensky over the last couple of days highlights the deal’s lack of progress and the president’s frustration with both of them.
Trump said in his rebuke of Zelensky that “nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory,” though the deal seemingly includes recognizing the four other regions Russia has annexed — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson — since the start of its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Russia held sham referendums in those areas that were widely denounced across the globe as fraudulent and coerced.
Vice President JD Vance indicated on Wednesday that the U.S.’s proposal would likely freeze battle lines as new boundaries.
“The current lines, or somewhere close to them, is where you’re ultimately, I think, going to draw the new lines in the conflict,” Vance said in India. “Now, of course, that means the Ukrainians and the Russians are both going to have to give up some of the territory they currently own.”
Russia currently occupies about a fifth of Ukraine, while Ukrainian forces are holding a small chunk of land in Kursk, Russia. Both sides have said they will not agree to deals that redraw the borders in the other’s favor.
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Steve Witkoff, the president’s Middle East envoy, is one of the officials leading the U.S.’s efforts to end the conflict, and he is expected to be in Russia later this week. It’s unclear if his trip will proceed as planned after the assault on Kyiv.
Putin could end the war he initiated whenever he chooses.