Shafaq News – Washington / Moscow / Kyiv

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump voiced frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin as Moscow’s strikes on Ukraine continued despite White House efforts to broker a peace deal between the two warring neighbors.

“Every conversation I have with him is a good conversation,” Trump remarked during an Oval Office signing event. “And then unfortunately, a bomb is loaded up into Kyiv or someplace.”

While criticizing Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian cities, Trump emphasized that he still sees a path toward a negotiated end to the conflict.

“I think we’re going to get the war done,” he noted, pointing to Putin’s recent visit to Alaska as “a big statement that he wants to get it done.”

Last week, Trump met with Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders to explore ways to end the conflict, though no breakthrough was reached.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later underlined that Putin remained open to dialogue, including with Zelenskyy, provided that “core issues were carefully examined at the highest level.”

Zelenskyy, for his part, reaffirmed that Ukraine would continue defending its freedom until its ‘’calls for peace were acknowledged’’, accusing Moscow of avoiding proposals for a meeting.

Although a trilateral US-Russia-Ukraine meeting has been discussed, the situation on the ground remains complex.

Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 59 drones overnight, with 47 destroyed or suppressed and 12 striking targets across nine locations.

Russia’s Defense Ministry, in turn, reported downing 51 Ukrainian drones, including two aimed at Moscow. It also claimed the capture of Zaporizke in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region.