US President Donald Trump was “not happy” but also “not surprised” by the latest Russian air strikes on Ukraine, the White House said on Thursday.
“He was not happy about this news, but he was also not surprised,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a briefing. She added that while the President seeks an end to the war, both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “must want it to end as well.”
The strikes, described as the second-largest since the conflict began, killed at least 19 people, including four children, according to Ukrainian officials.
Leavitt said the President would issue “additional statements later,” without providing details. The comments come as US and Russian delegations continue truce talks in Alaska, part of ongoing efforts to negotiate a resolution to the conflict.
According to Moscow’s Defense Ministry, Thursday’s strikes targeted Ukrainian military facilities, including weapons plants and airfields, and involved the use of Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. Ukraine’s military claimed to have intercepted most of the drones and missiles but confirmed successful Russian strikes at 13 sites, with further damage caused by debris.
CCTV footage circulating online showed two missiles hitting a location in central Kyiv, which reports identified as the office of the defense company Ukrspecsystems. Separately, officials in Lviv said a Kyiv-based facility of Turkish defense manufacturer Bayraktar was also struck, marking the fourth such attack in six months.
Earlier this month, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed to have sabotaged Ukraine’s Sapsan ballistic missile program, saying its operation had inflicted “colossal” damage on the project.
Moscow has consistently accused Western nations of using Ukraine as a proxy by supplying arms and funds, while maintaining that Kyiv’s war effort primarily serves foreign, not Ukrainian, interests.
