Emergency workers searched for victims under the rubble in Kyiv, Ukraine, yesterday.Credit…Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times
Trump to Putin: ‘Vladimir, STOP!’
Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv killed at least 12 people and injured 90 others yesterday. The attack prompted President Trump to express rare disapproval of Moscow.
“Vladimir, STOP!” Trump posted on social media, addressing Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing.”
The attack was the deadliest on Ukraine’s capital in nearly a year and came hours after Trump and his top aides demanded that the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky,accept an American-designed plan that favored Russia.
Speaking in the Oval Office yesterday, Trump said that he had “no allegiance” to either side and that his only goal was to stop the war and save lives, but he did claim that Putin had madea “pretty big concession” to end the conflict. When pressed on what that concession was, Trump replied, “stopping taking the whole country.”
Crimea: For Ukrainians, formal recognition of Russian control of Crimea, as proposed by the U.S., would be a dangerous concession and an abandonment of Ukrainians still living there.
Diplomacy: Europeans see the future of Ukraine as vital to their own. Officials say they are prepared to keep supporting Kyiv should the U.S. walk away from peace negotiations.
