Aboard Air Force One, May 15 (Reuters) – A Russian missile attack on a Kiev apartment building that killed 24 people, including three children, could hamper Moscow’s efforts to peacefully resolve the war in Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back from China, Trump said he had discussed the conflict with President Xi Jinping and both leaders agreed they wanted an end to the fighting. Trump has tried but so far failed to broker an end to a war he calls a senseless massacre.
“This is something we want to see resolved. Up until last night, things were looking good, but they (the Ukrainians) got hammered last night. So that’s what’s going to happen (the end of the war). But it’s a shame,” Trump said of the Russian attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky laid red roses on the ruins of an apartment building on Friday and called on Moscow to punish the strike.
Russia says a Ukrainian drone strike killed four people, including a child, in a nighttime attack on the city of Ryazan.
Both sides said they were not deliberately targeting civilians.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to travel to China next week and meet with Xi Jinping. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the exact date would be announced soon.
Peskov said Putin hopes to discuss Trump’s trip to China, as well as bilateral relations and international affairs with Xi Jinping.
(Reporting by Trevor Huunnicutt; Additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Gleb Bryanski/Andrew Osborn; Editing by Ros Russell)
