An American citizen was among 15 people killed in Russian strikes on Kyiv overnight, hours after President Trump bragged about his relationship with Vladimir Putin.
President Donald Trump urged world leaders at the G7 summit in Canada on Monday to allow Russia back into the major power grouping, from which it was expelled in 2014 after its invasion of Ukrainian Crimea.
Hours later, Putin launched what was reportedly the most lethal attack on the Ukrainian capital so far this year. Around 175 drones, 14 cruise missiles, and at least two ballistic missiles struck residential areas in and around the city overnight, Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, wrote on Telegram.
ADVERTISEMENT
Speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump called Russia’s removal from what was then the G8 a “big mistake” and insisted that Putin would never have invaded Ukraine if he had remained “at the table.”
“You spend so much time talking about Russia, and [Putin’s] no longer at the table, so it makes life more complicated, but you wouldn’t have had the war,” Trump said.
Trump also claimed he’s the only G7 leader Putin still talks to. The U.S. president has long touted his relationship with the Russian leader as a positive, including repeatedly suggesting before his election that he could end the war in Ukraine “within one day” of returning to the White House.
“He doesn’t speak to anybody else. He doesn’t want to talk because he was very insulted when he got thrown out of the G8, as I would be,” Trump said.
Trump further hinted at a reluctance to impose sanctions on Russia if it refuses to agree to a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine, arguing that sanctions “cost the U.S. a lot of money, you’re talking about billions and billions of dollars.”
The American killed in Kyiv was a 62-year-old resident of the Solomianskyi district, according to Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, who announced the death on Telegram, Reuters reported. Klitschko said the U.S. citizen was pronounced dead at the scene but provided no additional details.
Other Ukrainian regions hit in an overnight barrage included Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, and Mykolaiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X.
“Putin does this solely because he can afford to continue the war. He wants the war to go on,” Zelensky said. “It is wrong when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it. The terrorists must feel the pain—not innocent, peaceful people.”
Trump departed early from the G7 meeting as Israel’s conflict with Iran escalated, meaning he will skip a scheduled breakfast discussion about Ukraine on Tuesday which Zelesnky is set to attend.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.
