Trump says Putin told him he’ll retaliate against Ukraine, casting doubt on peace progress

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him that Moscow would retaliate against Ukraine’s major drone attack over the weekend, casting doubt that a peace deal to end the war could come soon.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he and Putin spoke for about an hour and 15 minutes and conveyed that it wasn’t going to lead to “immediate” peace between Russia and Ukraine.

“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,” Trump wrote, referring to Ukraine’s massive drone attack on Russian air bases that took place Sunday.

Trump said they also discussed negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. “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!”

Putin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters during a phone briefing that the Russian president accused Ukraine of trying to thwart peace talks. Ushakov also said Trump told Putin that the U.S. was not made aware in advance of Ukraine’s massive drone attack Sunday.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

A delegation of Ukrainian officials held meetings this week with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as Trump’s national security adviser, as well as Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.

Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia met in Istanbul on Tuesday for peace talks during which they discussed exchanges of prisoners of war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday. Zelenskyy said that Russia gave Ukraine an “ultimatum,” not a memorandum for a cease-fire agreement. He also said he’s ready to meet with Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the coming days.

Despite these negotiations over ending the war that began in 2022, the conflict has continued. In addition to the massive drone attack Ukraine launched against Russia over the weekend, Ukraine has also attacked key Russian bridges, including a critical one that connects Russia to Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Russia, meanwhile, has continued launching strikes against civilians in Ukraine. In the last 24 hours in Ukraine, four civilians were killed and more than a dozen were injured as a result of Russian strikes.

Trump has in recent months publicly expressed frustration with the Russian leader, with whom he has long bragged about having an amicable relationship. Trump said last week that the U.S. would know within two weeks whether Putin was serious about ending the war in Ukraine.