On Wednesday, the 4th of June, Russian President Vladimir Putin told US President Donald Trump that he would have to respond to Ukrainian “terrorist” drone attacks on Russia’s strategic bomber fleet, while describing peace talks with Ukraine as “useful” but adding that Ukrainian leaders do not want peace, according to Reuters and the BBC.
In some of his most hawkish statements on the prospects for peace in recent months, Putin said on Wednesday that the attacks on bridges were aimed at civilians and called the Ukrainian leadership a “terrorist organisation” supported by countries that are becoming “accomplices of terrorists”.
“The current regime in Kyiv does not want peace at all,” Putin said during a meeting with senior officials. “What is there to talk about? How can we negotiate with those who rely on terror?”
There are no confirmed reports of civilian casualties in the operation against the bombers or the Crimean bridge. Both sides deny that civilians are their target, although both sides have killed civilians.
Kyiv also accuses Moscow of not wanting peace because Russia refuses to agree to an immediate ceasefire. Russia, in turn, insists that certain conditions must first be met.
Shortly after Putin discussed the attacks with senior ministers in Moscow, Trump announced that he had spoken to Putin on the phone for an hour and 15 minutes.
“We discussed the Ukrainian attack on docked Russian aircraft, as well as various other attacks that have taken place between the two sides. It was a good conversation, but not one that will lead to immediate peace,” Trump wrote on social media.
Russia has carried out several massive air strikes on Ukraine over the past week, including sending 472 drones on Sunday and launching several attacks on Sumy, where Russia has made rapid advances over the past month.
“PRESIDENT PUTIN INDEED SAID, AND VERY STRONGLY, THAT HE WOULD RESPOND TO RECENT ATTACKS ON AIRFIELDS,” TRUMP SAID.
Ukrainian Minister for Strategic Industries Yuriy Sak has said that his country hoped that the US would respond to “continuous Russian missile and drone attacks” with “more sanctions and pressure”.
Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said that during his conversation with Trump, the Russian leader pointed out that despite what he called Ukraine’s attempts to “disrupt” the talks, the ceasefire negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv had been productive.
“I would like to emphasise that our president described the content of the talks in detail and that these talks were useful overall,” Ushakov said.
Memoranda setting out peace plans were exchanged and will be analysed, Ushakov said, “and we hope that after that both sides will be able to continue the talks”.
Putin in his public remarks didn’t mention the attacks on bombers that happened right before the direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, where Moscow outlined what the US called “maximalist” goals.
Trump has been unusually silent on Ukraine’s attacks on Russian bombers – one of Russia’s three pillars of nuclear deterrence – even though Moscow demanded that the US and Britain rein in Ukraine.
The Kremlin said Trump told Putin that Washington had not been informed in advance of the Ukrainian attacks. Trump’s envoy to Ukraine said the risk of war in Ukraine had “significantly increased” following the attacks.
Before Putin’s speech, other Russian officials said that military measures in response to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian territory were “on the table” and accused the West of involvement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a post on X, spoke of the scale of Russia’s attacks on his country since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
“Many have spoken with Russia at various levels. But none of these talks have brought about a credible peace or even stopped the war,” Zelenskyy wrote. “If the world reacts weakly to Putin’s threats, he interprets it as a willingness to turn a blind eye to his actions,” the president added.
Separately on Wednesday, Putin also spoke by telephone with US-born Pope Leo XIV. The Vatican confirmed that “special attention” was paid to peace in Ukraine.