Trump talks to Putin following Ukrainian drone attack

President Trump on Wednesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to retaliate against Ukraine’s successful drone attacks this week.

The threat, delivered during a lengthy phone call between the two men, further undercut Mr. Trump’s efforts to hammer out a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its third year.

Mr. Trump called it “a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace. President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.”

Ukraine used drones to target the bombers on air bases inside Russian territory in a surprise attack Sunday. The spectacular and unprecedented drone swarm on at least four major airfields delivered a major blow to Russia and fundamentally altered the dynamics of the war.

Earlier in the week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Mr. Trump was not given advance notice of that Ukrainian operation.

The phone call on Wednesday between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin lasted more than an hour, according to the White House.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters in Moscow that the two leaders pledged to keep the lines of communication open.

“Both President Trump and our president reaffirmed their readiness to remain in constant contact,” said Mr. Ushakov, according to the Russian state-owned Tass news agency.

Mr. Trump said they also discussed Iran in the call. He said he stressed to Mr. Putin “that time is running out on Iran’s decision pertaining to nuclear weapons, which must be made quickly!”

The president added, “I stated to President Putin that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and, on this, I believe that we were in agreement.”

According to Mr. Trump, the Russian leader suggested he would engage in discussions with Iran and that he could be “helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion.”

“It is my opinion that Iran has been slow-walking their decision on this very important matter, and we will need a definitive answer in a very short period of time,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump’s last known phone call with Mr. Putin was May 19, and that call lasted two hours.

Mr. Trump has been urging an end to the war. Russian and Ukrainian officials held direct talks in recent weeks, but the two sides haven’t gotten closer to capping a ceasefire agreement.

Mr. Trump criticized Mr. Putin last week, saying the Russian leader was “playing with fire” with missile strikes on Ukrainian cities and had gone “absolutely CRAZY!”