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US President Donald Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky not to strike Moscow, after giving Russia a 50-day deadline to stop the war.
Trump was asked outside the White House on Tuesday if Zelensky should fire missiles at the Russian capital.
‘No, he shouldn’t target Moscow,’ Trump told reporters on the South Lawn.
The remark comes after a Financial Times report claimed that Trump privately asked Zelensky if he could use long-range missiles supplied by the US on Moscow, and escalate attacks.
During the call on July 4, Trump apparently said, ‘Volodymyr, can you hit Moscow? … Can you hit St Petersburg too?’ two sources told the news outlet.
They said Zelensky responded: ‘Absolutely. We can if you give us the weapons.’
Russia has repeatedly launched aerial attacks on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
Trump insisted that he is ‘on nobody’s side’ but on ‘humanity’s side’ and that he wants to ‘stop the killing’.
The US president also defended the 50-day deadline he set for Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to agree to a peace deal, or face 100% tariffs.
‘I don’t think 50 days is very long and it could be sooner than that,’ Trump said.
‘At the end of the 50 days if we don’t have a deal, it’s going to be too bad.’
That same day, Trump vowed to expedite sending more powerful weapons to Ukraine.
He credited his wife, Melania, among people who pointed out to him that Putin has not kept his promises in phone conversations to stop the warfare.
A Russian drone attack that started Monday evening and continued for nearly 17 hours injured a 12-year-old girl in Zaporizhzhia in southeast Ukraine, said Ivan Fedorov, the head of the Ukrainian regional military administration, according to Ukrinform. The girl received ‘all necessary assistance’ from medical responders.
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