Washington: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone for more than an hour, during which the Russian President made it very clear that Moscow will respond to the daring drone attack launched by Ukraine deep inside Russia.
Trump speaks to Putin on phone
“Putin said very strongly that he will have to respond to Ukraine’s drone attack,” President Trump said after the phone call with his Russian counterpart.
The US president said in a social media post that “It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace.” The call that lasted for an hour and 15 minutes was Trump’s first known with Putin since May 19. Trump said he and Putin also discussed Iran’s nuclear programme.
Ukraine destroys 41 Russian Air Force jets
It should be noted that Ukraine on Sunday carried out an audacious drone attack in military history, targeting and destroying Russian Air Force jets parked at strategic air bases deep inside Russian territory. The attack has left dozens of Russia’s strategic bombers, transport aircraft, and airborne warning aircraft decimated.
Russia, Ukraine delegations hold peace talks in Turkey
In the meantime, the delegations from Russia and Ukraine ended their latest peace talks on Monday in Turkey after just over an hour, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian state media said.
Speaking in Vilnius, Lithuania, Zelenskyy said both sides “exchanged documents through the Turkish side, and we are preparing a new release of prisoners of the war”.
The two sides also agreed to swap 6,000 bodies of soldiers killed in action. Expectations were low for any breakthrough on ending the 3-year-old war after a string of stunning attacks over the weekend.
Kyiv officials said a surprise drone attack Sunday damaged or destroyed more than 40 warplanes at air bases deep inside Russia, including the remote Arctic, Siberian and Far East regions more than 7,000 kilometres from Ukraine.
The complex and unprecedented raid, which struck simultaneously in three time zones, took over a year and a half to prepare and was “a major slap in the face for Russia’s military power,” said Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Ukrainian security service who led its planning.
