US President Donald Trump said he is finding Ukraine “more difficult” to deal with than Russia hours before 20 people were killed and 43 injured in an overnight strike in the Donetsk region. Trump also insisted that Vladimir Putin is committed to a peace deal, despite continued drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian territory, with eight residential buildings damaged in a strike on Friday night.
“Russia kills civilians,” the regional head of Donetsk, Vadym Filashkin, said in a Telegram post this morning. While the US is reportedly “strongly considering” imposing large-scale sanctions on Russia, Trump has also already “paused” military aid to Kyiv, including intelligence sharing. “I think [Putin is] hitting [Ukraine] harder than he’s been hitting them,” the US President told reporters in the White House. “And I think probably anyone in that position would be doing that right now.” He added that he believes Moscow wants to end the war but can’t say the same for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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