'Not necessary,' 'bad timing' — Trump 'not happy' with Russia's deadly attack on Kyiv

U.S. President Donald Trump on April 24 criticized Russia’s strike on Kyiv that killed eight civilians and injured 77, calling it “not necessary."

“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on Kyiv. Not necessary, and very bad timing,” Trump said on the Truth Social platform.

Trump urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to “stop” and “get the peace deal done,” addressing the Kremlin’s leader by his first name and stopping short of further criticism.

Russia launched the deadly attack amid Trump’s effort to broker a peace deal in Ukraine and Kyiv’s calls for an unconditional ceasefire, which Moscow continues to reject.

Trump’s diplomatic outreach has largely favored Russia, with his reported peace proposal offering U.S. de jure recognition of Russia’s control over Crimea, a ban on Ukraine’s membership in NATO, and closer economic cooperation.

After President Volodymyr Zelensky ruled out formally ceding the occupied peninsula to Russia, Trump criticised him at length and called his position “harmful to the peace negotiations with Russia."

Peace efforts stand on shaky ground as the planned ministerial between Ukraine, the U.S., and European allies in London on April 23, which was meant to hash out a united position on a peace deal, was postponed after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped the meeting.

The meeting was instead held on a technical level, with the parties praising it as “positive” but announcing no breakthrough. Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is also expected to visit Russia on April 25 for his fourth meeting with Putin.

‘Russian peace in all its glory’ — Mass Russian missile, drone attack on Kyiv kills 8, injures 77

Authorities initially reported nine people killed, but the Prosecutor General’s Office later said only eight fatalities had been confirmed.

The Kyiv IndependentVolodymyr Ivanyshyn