US President Donald Trump has said that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin understands that more sanctions “may be coming,” as Moscow continues to reject Washington’s push for a cease-fire in Ukraine.
Speaking on Air Force One on July 4, Trump said: “You know, we talk about sanctions a lot and he understands that it may be coming.”
Trump's comments reflected the failure, so far, to broker a cease-fire in the conflict and his apparent dissatisfaction with the Russian leader.
Outgoing flights at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport were temporarily paused and Russia said it shot down four incoming Ukrainian drones approaching the Russian capital.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's top general, Oleksandr Syrkiy, reported that he had spent two days this week in the eastern Kharkiv region, where he said Russia was preparing a new offensive.
Trump’s remarks also elaborated on his earlier comment that he was “disappointed” by his phone call with Putin on July 3.
"He wants to go all the way, just keep killing people, it's no good," he said, adding that he was “very unhappy” with the Kremlin leader.
Hours earlier, Trump had what he called "a good call" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on the United States to impose greater sanctions on Russia to force Moscow to the negotiating table.
Since taking the office, Trump has not imposed any new sanctions on Russia. His administration has also relaxed enforcement, experts say. Trump has countered that imposing sanctions on Russia would hurt peace negotiations.
Trump also confirmed that he and Zelenskyy had spoken about air defense, a key issue in Ukraine as Russia has massively stepped up its aerial bombardment of Kyiv and other cities this year.
The two men spoke following a huge drone and missile assault overnight from July 3-4 that Kyiv said was the largest of the war so far.
Their conversation also followed a recent US decision to halt some weapons supplies to Ukraine, which include Patriot air defense missiles according to US media reports.
“The Patriot missile system is absolutely valuable, and to take that away is a huge problem for Ukraine,” US-based analyst Kervin Aucoin told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service.
“The removal of this aid by the United States to Ukraine, it has emboldened the Russians, it is emboldening Vladimir Putin to attack more areas within Ukraine,” added Aucoin, who was formerly an intelligence analyst in the US military.
Zelenskyy indicated that he had raised this with Trump.
"We discussed the possibilities of air defense and agreed that we will work on increasing the protection of the sky."
He added that they had agreed “a corresponding meeting of our teams."
Also on July 4, Trump discussed Patriot missiles in a call with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, one of a series of conversations he had with Western leaders on US Independence Day.
Berlin has raised the possibility that it would buy Patriots from Washington and then provide them to Kyiv.
Meanwhile, there were reports of fatalities as fighting continued in various regions of Ukraine.
Three people were killed and 30 injured over 24 hours as a result of Russian strikes on Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Kherson regions, according to data from regional military administrations.
Among the injured were a 10-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl.
"Civil infrastructure facilities were damaged and destroyed: in the Kupyansky district, two apartment buildings, a school, two private houses, a shop were damaged; in the Chuguyiv district, a dormitory, a service station, 10 cars, postal infrastructure, and an inoperative building were damaged," an official statement said.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that overnight Russia had launched 322 drones at Ukraine.
In Russia, officials in Voronezh and Saratov regions reported Ukrainian drone strikes. The Russian Defense Ministry announced that 94 Ukrainian drones were allegedly shot down overnight in multiple regions.
There were no reports of casualties.
Ukraine said its special forces had attacked Borisoglebsk air field in Russia’s Voronezh region.
"A warehouse with guided bombs, a combat training aircraft, and probably other aircraft were hit. The results of the hit are being clarified," the Ukrainian General Staff said. It added that the attack was aimed at reducing Russia’s ability to bomb Ukraine.
Later, the General Staff said its forces had hit an industrial plant in Cheboksary, nearly 600 kilometers east of Moscow, that makes components for drones.
Battlefield claims by both sides could not be verified.
