Washington [US], May 26: US President Donald Trump said he was unhappy with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Moscow launched heavy air strikes on Ukraine over the weekend.
"I'm not happy with what President Putin is doing," CNN quoted President Trump telling reporters at the airport in Morristown, New Jersey (USA) on May 25.
The US leader said he was "very surprised" by the developments. "We're in the middle of peace talks, and Putin is firing missiles at Kyiv and other cities," Trump said. Trump is trying to mediate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine to end the conflict that has lasted more than three years.
Mr. Trump also raised the possibility of imposing additional sanctions on Russia in response to the ongoing attacks.
Mr. Trump made the above statement after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on May 25 criticized the silence from the US side in response to Russia's attacks. "The silence of the US and the silence of other countries in the world only encourages Mr. Putin. Each fierce attack by Russia like that is enough reason to punish this country."
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched 69 missiles and 298 unmanned aerial vehicles ( UAVs ) on the night of May 25. Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko accused the attack of killing 12 people, including 3 children, and injuring more than 60 people.According to The Kyiv Independent on May 25, US Special Envoy Keith Kellogg called for an immediate ceasefire after Russia's large-scale attack on Ukraine.
Russia has not commented on the incident but has previously denied accusations that Moscow attacks civilians.
Russia said on May 25 that it was also attacked by Ukrainian drones. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had intercepted or destroyed about 100 of the attacking drones. Most of the destroyed UAVs were in central and southern Russia, according to CNN.
In Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 12 drones targeting the Russian capital had been intercepted. Meanwhile, four Moscow airports were forced to temporarily suspend operations on May 25 for safety reasons.
On the same day, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev warned: "If military aid to Ukraine continues, the buffer zone may look like this." In a video shared by Mr. Medvedev on his Telegram channel, the buffer zone covers almost the entire territory of Ukraine except for a small part in the west, according to TASS.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
