Trump told Putin he was not informed about Ukrainian attack on airfields, Russia says

ISTANBUL

Moscow said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call that Washington had not been informed in advance about Ukraine’s Sunday attack on multiple airfields in the country.

“As for the strikes on military airfields, this topic was also touched upon. Moreover, Donald Trump reiterated that the Americans were not informed about this in advance,” Russia's presidential aide Yury Ushakov told reporters in Moscow following the talks between the two presidents, which he said lasted for about an hour and 10 minutes.

Expressing that the talks began with a discussion of the situation around Ukraine, Ushakov said Putin spoke in detail about the outcome of the second round of direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv in Istanbul on Monday.

Putin and Trump agreed to continue contacts on a settlement in Ukraine at various levels, Ushakov said, noting that the talks in the Turkish metropolis were “useful” and that the Russian side “did not succumb to provocations.”

“The corresponding memoranda exchanged will be analyzed in the capitals, Moscow and Kyiv. And then, we hope, the parties can continue negotiations,” he added.

Ushakov went on to say that Putin also told Trump about Ukraine’s alleged efforts to disrupt the negotiations in the Turkish metropolis.

“In addition to Ukraine, a whole range of international issues were discussed, I would say, with an emphasis on the somewhat stalemate in the negotiations between the US and Iran on the Iranian nuclear program,” he added.

Earlier, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he discussed the recent drone attacks by Ukraine on Russia and Iran with his Russian counterpart Putin in a phone call that lasted “approximately one hour and 15 minutes.”

Kyiv claimed hitting 41 Russian strategic bombers in an "unprecedented and unique special operation" on Sunday, which involved drone strikes that targeted military airfields in multiple parts of Russia, including the Siberian region of Irkutsk.