US President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday, May 15, that he discussed the war in Ukraine with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their summit in Beijing.
Asked by reporters whether Ukraine was part of the talks and whether there had been any progress, Trump replied: “I did.”
“We discussed – well, it’s one that we’d like to see settled,” Trump said.
“Until last night, it was looking good, but they took a big hit last night. So, it’s going to happen, but it’s a shame,” he added, apparently referring to Russia’s recent large-scale strikes on Ukraine.
Overnight into Thursday, Russian forces launched 56 missiles and 675 drones after already beginning a mass attack earlier in the day. Kyiv suffered the heaviest damage, with strikes recorded in six districts of the capital.
In Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, an entire section of a residential high-rise building collapsed following the strike. 24 people, including three children, were killed in the strike on the apartment building in Kyiv.
President Volodymyr Zelensky later said the building had been hit by a Kh-101 cruise missile manufactured in the second quarter of 2026.
The remarks came during Trump’s first visit to China since returning to office and the first US presidential trip to Beijing in nearly a decade.
During the summit, Xi warned that tensions over Taiwan could push the United States and China toward direct conflict.
“The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi said, according to Chinese state media.
“If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict,” Xi added.
Trump, meanwhile, praised Xi as a “great leader” and predicted the two countries would have “a fantastic future together.”
Trump’s remarks came a day after Russia carried out one of its largest combined air assaults against Ukraine since beginning its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.