President Donald Trump was “merely asking a question” when he asked the Ukrainian president whether the country could strike Moscow, the White House says.
Citing anonymous sources, the Financial Times reported that Trump on 4 July had privately encouraged Ukraine to escalate strikes on Russia if the US provided long-range weapons.
But Trump was “merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing. He’s working tirelessly to stop the killing and end this war”, White House told the BBC in a statement.
On Monday, Trump announced he would send weapons to Ukraine and warned of more tariffs on Russia if the country did not come to a ceasefire deal with Ukraine in 50 days.
The president said the US would impose 100% secondary tariffs targeting Russia’s remaining trade partners if a peace deal with Ukraine was not reached in that timeline.
Among the weapons involved in the latest deal, Trump said “everything” including defensive Patriot missiles, though the exact details are not yet known.
Trump told the BBC on Monday that he was “disappointed” in Russian President Vladimir Putin. “But I’m not done with him,” he added.
Trump also said he was “working at” getting Putin to put an end to killing in Ukraine.
“We’ll have a great conversation. I’ll say: ‘That’s good, I’ll think we’re close to getting it done,’ and then he’ll knock down a building in Kyiv.”
In recent weeks, Russia has escalated its drone and missile attacks in Ukraine, killing more than 230 civilians in June, according to the United Nations – the largest number killed in a month during the three years of war.
Trump’s question to Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelensky about whether the country could strike Moscow came a day after a “bad” call between the US president and Putin, according to the Financial Times.
“Volodymyr, can you hit Moscow? . . . Can you hit St Petersburg too?” Trump asked on a separate call with Zelensky after, the outlet reported.
Ukraine has Ukraine struck several targets deep inside Russia this year with missiles provided by the US and the UK.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has pledged to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
But the promise has proven more complicated than expected, and Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the Russian leader and the lack of progress in ending the conflict.
Two rounds of ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine took place earlier this year but no other meetings have been scheduled.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Trump’s pledge to raise tariffs and send weapons to Ukraine was seen “not as a signal for peace but as a signal to continue the war”.
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