Asked about the massive overnight Russian bombardment of Ukraine by RFE/RL reporter Alex Raufoglu, President Trump said: “Ukraine is moving along, I wish they could get along.”
More than 700 drones and missiles were launched in multiple waves at cities across the country, killing at least 18 people in what local officials described as the deadliest attack in months.
Officials said nine people were killed in the southern port city of Odesa, five in the central city of Dnipro, and four – including a child – in the capital, Kyiv.
Asked whether the war had the potential to drag on for years, Trump said he believed a deal could still be reached.
“Well, possibly, but I think a deal could be reached – possibly,” he said. “It would be foolish not to. I mean, if we’re close to a deal to end it, yes, I would do that. But we’re close to a deal.”
Trump also reiterated that the war would not have started if he had been in office.
Former US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Dan Fried told Kyiv Post that the strikes showed Russia was trying to terrorize civilians because it could not break Ukrainian resilience.
“They are choosing this tactic because they have been unsuccessful on the ground, on the battlefield. They have not seized Ukrainian territory,” Fried said.
“They are also unable to mount effective strategic attacks on Ukrainian military targets. The Ukrainians, by contrast, have been rather successful in going after Russian strategic targets, including, of course, famously, the Baltic ports.
So the Russians are not winning the war, and they are killing civilians and trying to terrorize Ukraine.”