Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump ‘asks Zelensky about striking Moscow and considers sending Tomahawk missiles’ – UK Times

Donald Trump has said Volodymyr Zelensky should not target Moscow and that Russian President Vladimir Putin should agree to a ceasefire deal by a 50-day deadline or sanctions will kick in.

His comments came after The Financial Times, citing people briefed on discussions, reported on Tuesday that Trump had privately encouraged Ukraine to step up deep strikes on Russia.

The newspaper added that Trump asked Zelensky whether he could strike Moscow if the U.S. provided long-range weapons.

“No, he shouldn’t target Moscow,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House when asked if Zelensky should attack the Russian capital.

Russian forces fired 267 drones at Ukraine overnight into Tuesday, Kyiv’s air force has said.

Air defences destroyed a total of 178 of these drones, while 23 strikes were recorded across seven locations.

Drones were fired across the north, south, east and centre of the country form Monday afternoon into Tuesday.

Around 66 decoy drones disappeared from the radar or were suppressed by electronic warfare, the air force added according to Ukrainska Pravda.

British foreign minister David Lammy has welcomed Donald Trump’s decision to allow US military equipment to be used by Ukrainian forces.

“Good discussion with [US secretary of state] @marcorubio last night,” Mr Lammy wrote on X.

“I welcomed President Trump’s decision enabling NATO Allies to purchase vital US military equipment for Ukraine’s defence, including Patriots, and his threat of tariffs if there is no peace deal in 50 days.”

Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday that Moscow is ready to negotiate after US president Donald Trump threatened sanctions on buyers of Russian exports

But Ryabkov added that Russia did not warm to ultimatums.

Trump announced new weapons for Ukraine on Monday and threatened to levy sanctions on buyers of Russian exports unless Moscow agrees to a peace deal in Ukraine.

Artyom Nikolayev, an analyst from financial information firm Invest Era, said the US president Donald Trump did not go as far as Russian markets had feared.

“Trump performed below market expectations. He gave 50 days during which the Russian leadership can come up with something and extend the negotiation track. Moreover, Trump likes to postpone and extend such deadlines,” he said.

Donald Trump, once a fierce critic of the Nato, is now far more positive about the future of the military alliance.

The US president was asked by the BBC whether Nato had become “obsolete” – a word he has used to describe it before.

“No. I think Nato is now becoming the opposite of that,” he told the broadcaster, adding that the alliance is “paying their own bills”.

In late June, Nato allies agreed to boost their defence spending to 5 per cent of gross domestic product, a move the White House had repeatedly demanded since taking office.

Mr Trump added that he still believes in collective defence to allow smaller countries to defend themselves against bigger ones.

Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Donald Trump last night after the US president threatened a fresh batch of heavy sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin fails to reach a peace deal.

Mr Trump warned on Monday that he would implement 100 per cent tariffs “if we don’t have a deal in 50 days”.

The Ukrainian president held a phone call with Mr Trump after the US president had met with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte in the White House on Monday.

“It was a very good conversation,” Mr Zelensky said after the phone call. “Thank you for the willingness to support Ukraine and to continue working together to stop the killings and establish a lasting and just peace.

“It’s important that we have such a good relationship, and that the Alliance countries are working to increase defense spending.”

The pair discussed how to protect Ukraine from Russian attacks and agreed to catch up more often by phone, Mr Zelensky added.

Donald Trump still believes Russia will win the war against Ukraine, despite committing a significant military aid package to Kyiv.

The US president has grown increasingly frustrated by Vladimir Putin and has become more willing to directly support Kyiv in its defence against Russia – but a White House official told Politico that he still believes Moscow holds the cards.

“The president’s view is Russia is going to win, it’s a matter of how long it takes,” the official said.

They added that this is because Russia has a larger economy and bigger army, with “more than enough bodies to throw into the meat grinder”.

“And although they are making slow progress, they are still making progress. The president just wants to stop the killing,” they added.