Washington - Saba:
US President Donald Trump has confirmed that Ukraine gave Russia a reason to launch a powerful military strike against it.
Trump explained in a statement reported by Western media: "Ukraine gave Putin an excuse to go and bomb them to hell last night. I didn't like it. When I saw what happened, I said, 'Here it comes.'"
The US president also expressed his hope that Russia would not halt negotiations to resolve the Ukrainian conflict, warning that "the situation could deteriorate to the point of nuclear war," he said.
Earlier on Thursday, the US president announced that he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin not to respond to the Ukrainian military's strikes on Russian airports, stressing that he understood Putin's position regarding Kyiv's recent attacks on Russian airports.
Trump said in the Oval Office: "I told (President Putin) 'Don't do it. You shouldn't do it.'"
He continued, "Putin informed me that he would respond to the violent Ukrainian attack on Russian territory," noting that "Putin made it clear to him that Russia had no choice but to respond to the attacks."
Last Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced that he had held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, noting that the conversation lasted an hour and 15 minutes.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social account: "I just finished a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The call lasted an hour and a quarter," adding: "We discussed the attack on Russian aircraft by Ukraine, as well as various other attacks from both sides."
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that all crimes committed against Russian civilians on the eve of the second round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine were aimed at disrupting the negotiation process, noting that the Kyiv authorities lack the most basic level of political culture.
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