Vladimir Putin has said he will have to respond to Ukraine's major drone attack on Russian airbases, US President Donald Trump has warned. Speaking after a phone call with the Russian president, Trump said: "President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields." Russian officials declined to confirm this on Wednesday night, but Moscow had earlier said that military options were "on the table" for its response.
Trump warned in a social media post that the phone call, which lasted more than an hour, would not "lead to immediate peace" between Russia and Ukraine. Russia's RIA Novosti, a state-owned news agency, said Putin told Trump that Ukraine has tried to "disrupt" the negotiations and that the government in Kyiv has "essentially turned into a terrorist organization".
The two also "exchanged views on the prospects for restoring cooperation between the countries, which has enormous potential," it said. The conversation between the two leaders marks the first since Ukraine launched a surprise attack using smuggled drones to strike Russian airbases on 1 June, targeting what it said were nuclear-capable long-range bombers. Trump told Putin in the call that the US was not warned in advance of the attack, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said. (Ed note: So what are the chances of Russia now going to low yielding tactical nuclear weapons?) (Read More)
