US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke for more than an hour during which the Russian leader made it very clear that Moscow will "have to respond" to the daring drone attack launched by Ukraine deep inside Russia.
"Putin said very strongly that he will have to respond to Ukraine's drone attack," President Trump said immediately after getting off the phone with his Russian counterpart.
On Sunday, Ukraine carried out what has been described by war analysts as the most audacious drone attack in military history, targeting and destroying Russian Air Force jets parked at strategic air bases deep inside Russian territory. The attack left dozens of Russia's strategic bombers, transport aircraft, and airborne warning aircraft decimated.
Moscow was caught off-guard presumably over the fact that these airbases are located so far inside Russia that the sheer distance was enough to keep aircraft safe from a Ukrainian attack. The attack has given a huge boost to Kyiv's morale, while creating a big dent on the morale of Moscow. Though peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow went as planned a day after the stunning attack, the conflict has intensified in the last 48 hours.
Meanwhile, President Trump spoke with President Putin today. "I just finished speaking, by telephone, with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia. The call lasted approximately one hour and 15 minutes. We discussed the attack on Russia's docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides," President Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social.
He said that today discussion was "good, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace."
"President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields," President Trump revealed. The Russian President's warning comes two days after Ukraine's Zelensky claimed that as many as 41 Russian military jets were destroyed in the Trojan-horse styled attack, in which drones were sent secretly concealed in container trucks before being deployed remotely.
The air bases targeted by Ukraine were the Belaya Air Base in Siberia's Irkutsk, the Olenya Air Base in the Arctic region's Murmansk, the Ivanovo Severny Air Base in Ivanovo, the Dyagilevo Air Base in Ryazan, and Ukrainka Air Base in Russia's Far East. While the nearest of these air bases is located more than 500 km from the Ukraine border, the farthest one is located as much as 8,000 km from the border.
These attacks are being called the most audacious in military history due to its scale and reach. Though western allies have supplied Ukraine with missiles too - the US-made ATACMS and the British-French-made Storm Shadow - neither has the range to hit these air bases located deep inside Russian territory.
During the call on Tuesday, Presidents Trump and Putin "also discussed Iran, and the fact that time is running out on Iran's decision pertaining to nuclear weapons, which must be made quickly! I stated to President Putin that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and, on this, I believe that we were in agreement," President Trump said.
"President Putin suggested that he will participate in the discussions with Iran and that he could, perhaps, be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion. It is my opinion that Iran has been slowwalking their decision on this very important matter, and we will need a definitive answer in a very short period of time," the US President stated.
