Trump Tells Putin U.S. Was Unaware of Ukrainian Airfield Strikes

U.S. President Donald Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the United States had no prior knowledge of Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian airfields, according to Kremlin officials.

The two leaders discussed the June 1 attacks in a recent phone call. “Trump reaffirmed that Americans were not informed about this in advance,” said Yury Ushakov, an aide to the Russian president.

Ukrainian forces launched First Person View (FPV) drones against Russian military sites in the Amur, Ivanovo, Irkutsk, Murmansk, and Ryazan regions. Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed that its air defenses intercepted drones over Amur, Ivanovo, and Ryazan, while fires were reported on aircraft in Irkutsk and Murmansk.

The Kremlin called the incident a terrorist act and blamed Kyiv for escalating the war. Ukraine has not officially commented on the strikes, and there is no independent confirmation of the reported damage.

Speaking after the call, President Trump said: “President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.” While Russian officials did not confirm this remark, earlier statements from Moscow indicated that military retaliation remained under consideration.

RIA Novosti, a state-owned Russian news agency, said Putin accused Kyiv of trying to disrupt peace efforts and described Ukraine’s government as having “essentially turned into a terrorist organisation.”

The phone call marked the first direct conversation between the two leaders since the drone attack. It also followed a series of recent public remarks by President Trump criticizing Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities.

Trump, who previously warned that Putin was “playing with fire,” made no mention of earlier threats to shift U.S. policy if peace efforts stalled. He also said the phone call “would not lead to immediate peace.”

Putin informed Trump in detail about Ukraine’s recent attacks on Russian facilities during a phone call. Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said, "He (Trump) listened carefully to our assessments, and our president spoke in sufficient detail on this matter. I think it was very useful for Trump to hear our assessments of what happened.”

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X that past talks with Russia had failed to produce peace. “Many have spoken with Russia at various levels. But none of these talks have brought a reliable peace,” he wrote.

In Washington, a Ukrainian delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak met with U.S. senators to discuss weapons supplies, battlefield conditions, and war-related investments.

Yermak wrote that talks focused on “defense support and the situation on the battlefield,” sanctions on Russia, and the reconstruction fund.