"Vladimir Putin, stop now, end the war," says Donald Trump after overnight missile and drone strikes in Ukraine

"Vladimir Putin, stop now, end the war," says Donald Trump after overnight missile and drone strikes in Ukraine

Washington, April 24, 2025 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Thursday publicly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin following Russia’s overnight missile and drone strikes on Kyiv. In a social media post, Trump wrote: "Vladimir, STOP!"

Trump said, “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on Kyiv. It was not necessary, and the timing was very bad.”

His comments came just a day after he accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of hampering peace negotiations by stating that Ukraine would never recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

The Kremlin did not immediately comment on Trump’s remarks. However, during a press briefing on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is continuing to target “military and military-adjacent facilities.”

Trump’s rare criticism of Putin came at a time when he had only a day earlier criticized Zelenskyy for what he called a stance that was “very harmful to the peace negotiations” with Russia.

Trump further stated, “Crimea was lost many years ago and is not even a point of discussion anymore.”

It is worth noting that back in March, Trump and Zelenskyy had a heated exchange during a controversial meeting in the Oval Office.