Russia will retaliate against Ukraine for weekend drone attacks, Trump says

In a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to hit back at Ukraine in response to drone attacks on Russian air bases over the weekend, Trump said Wednesday.

Putin “very strongly” said “that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields,” according to Trump.

In what is known as “Operation Spider’s Web,” Ukraine planted drones deep inside Russia before remotely launching them, damaging 41 Kremlin aircrafts. Ukraine’s security service estimated the damage to be worth $7 billion.

The attack was a significant blow to Russia and uncovered notable vulnerabilities in Russian security. Planned over 18 months, Ukraine’s attack was strategic and demonstrated the adapting nature of Ukraine’s war strategy, observers said.

The attack occurred Sunday, just one day before Russia and Ukraine were scheduled to discuss potential peace terms in Istanbul, a meeting that ultimately made little progress to end the war.

Trump’s comments after his phone call with Putin suggested that a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine is not likely to occur in the immediate future.

“It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace,” Trump said on social media.

However, Kremlin spokesperson Yuri Ushakov emphasized Russia’s wish to continue in peace negotiations with Ukraine. 

“This doesn’t mean we cannot hold negotiations, which are needed to bring about some kind of settlement,” Ushakov said.

In the same post, Trump expressed optimism in working with Russia on a nuclear agreement with Iran.

“I stated to President Putin that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and, on this, I believe that we were in agreement,” Trump said. “President Putin suggested that he will participate in the discussions with Iran and that he could, perhaps, be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion.”

The Trump administration sent Iran an updated nuclear deal over the weekend in an attempt to deter Iran’s nuclear capacity.

Trump said that he and Putin spoke about the deal in their phone call, and that “time is running out on Iran’s decision.”

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