WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump turned his criticism on Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday after Russia pounded Kyiv with missiles and drones overnight, saying “Vladimir, STOP!”
“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing,” Trump wrote in a social media post a day after saying Ukraine’s leader was hampering peace talks on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
When asked about the Russian strikes on Kyiv at a briefing earlier on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was continuing to hit “military and military-adjacent targets.”
Trump’s rare rebuke of Putin followed his criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday for saying Ukraine would not recognize Russia’s occupation of Crimea – a longtime Kyiv stance.
“This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia,” Trump said in a social media post.
Trump, who argued with Zelenskiy in a disastrous Oval Office meeting in March, said Crimea was lost years ago “and is not even a point of discussion.”
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Frank McGurty)
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