President Trump rebuked Vladimir Putin after Russia launched a few of the greatest air assaults towards Ukraine since its invasion greater than three years in the past. Then the Kremlin replied.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Over the weekend, Russia launched a few of the greatest air assaults towards Ukraine since invading greater than three years in the past. Ukrainian authorities say 12 individuals had been killed. And on Sunday, President Trump made clear he was not happy.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, I am going to offer you an replace. I am not pleased with what Putin’s doing. He is killing lots of people. And I do not know what the hell occurred to Putin. I’ve identified him a very long time, all the time gotten together with him. However he is sending rockets into cities and killing individuals, and I do not prefer it in any respect.
KELLY: Nicely, right here to offer some perspective from Moscow is NPR’s Russia correspondent Charles Maynes. Hey, Charles.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Hello, Mary Louise.
KELLY: So dive proper in there with the feedback from President Trump. And I’ll notice, he went even additional in what he mentioned about this on social media. How is all of this touchdown the place you might be in Russia?
MAYNES: Nicely, simply to select up in your level, , on social media, he mentioned Putin had, quote, “gone completely loopy” and was taking pictures missiles and drones into Ukrainian cities for no purpose in any respect. As to the Russian response, properly, Moscow insists these assaults had been precision strikes – their language – on military-related targets, that regardless of scenes of condominium buildings destroyed. Moscow additionally accuses Ukraine of attacking Russia with tons of of drones all through the weekend – in different phrases, framing this as a tit for tat. You already know, as to Trump’s criticism of Putin, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, he primarily took a move. Let’s pay attention.
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DMITRY PESKOV: (Non-English language spoken).
MAYNES: So right here, Peskov thanks the U.S. and Trump, particularly, for what he framed as a significant diplomatic efforts in direction of peace, however steered that Trump, together with everybody, was experiencing what Peskov known as emotional overload from the Ukraine negotiations.
KELLY: Emotional overload? After which additionally praising President Trump for his diplomacy? Is {that a} surprisingly gentle response, Charles, from the Kremlin, to the allegation that Putin has gone, quote, “completely loopy”?
MAYNES: Nicely, , consider, it was only a week in the past that Trump and Putin held their telephone name through which Trump declared Moscow and Kyiv prepared to instantly begin negotiating a ceasefire. They haven’t. And critics accuse the Kremlin of dragging out peace talks as Russia continues to assault Ukraine, arguably with Trump now giving Moscow diplomatic cowl.
I ought to notice that at this time, Trump threatened new sanctions towards Moscow if it did not cease these assaults. However that is a menace that he did not again up when Putin mentioned no to a ceasefire and promised extra talks as an alternative. So perhaps the best way to look about that is Russia’s newest try of making an attempt to not antagonize Trump – even reward him – as Russia feigns progress in direction of a peace that simply is not there.
KELLY: Nicely, and in the meantime, what about Ukraine? As a result of Ukraine’s president, President Zelenskyy, was additionally on the receiving finish of Trump’s ire over the weekend.
MAYNES: You already know, he was. Zelenskyy clearly irritated Trump by calling out the, quote, “silence of America” as these assaults had been unfolding, including that with out actually robust strain on Putin, this brutality wouldn’t cease. Trump seems to have taken this as a dig at his mediation efforts and mentioned Zelenskyy was doing his nation no favors by speaking the best way he does. What meaning, we’ll must see, however both means, , this weekend was discouraging for anybody who desires an finish to this battle.
KELLY: Certainly. NPR Moscow correspondent Charles Maynes. Thanks, Charles.
MAYNES: Thanks.
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