Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refuted President Donald Trump's characterization of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told US President Donald Trump in a phone call Wednesday that Moscow was obligated to respond to Ukraine’s weekend drone attack, Trump said, setting up a potential escalation in the conflict just as the US president hopes to broker an end to the war.

President Donald Trump explained why he wants to keep trying to make a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, during an Oval Office press conference Thursday with the German chancellor . PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So it’s not the money.

Ukraine’s drone strikes deep into Russia delivered a humiliating blow to Moscow last weekend. Kyiv’s defenders celebrated the attack as a triumph of modern warfare and a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the extraordinary operation got a different response inside the White House: anger.

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President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him that Moscow would retaliate against Ukraine's major drone attack over the weekend, casting doubt that a peace deal to end the war could come soon.

"It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace," President Trump posted on social media.

Kyiv said Russia intends to seize half of Ukraine by the end of 2026, beyond the formal territorial claims Moscow made to the U.S.