MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Over the weekend, Russia launched some of the biggest air attacks against Ukraine since invading more than three years ago. Ukrainian authorities say 12 people were killed. And on Sunday, President Trump made clear he was not pleased.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, I'll give you an update. I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people. And I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time, always gotten along with him. But he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all.
KELLY: Well, here to provide some perspective from Moscow is NPR's Russia correspondent Charles Maynes. Hey, Charles.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: So dive right in there with the comments from President Trump. And I will note, he went even further in what he said about this on social media. How is all of this landing where you are in Russia?
MAYNES: Well, just to pick up on your point, you know, on social media, he said Putin had, quote, "gone absolutely crazy" and was shooting missiles and drones into Ukrainian cities for no reason whatsoever. As to the Russian reaction, well, Moscow insists these attacks were precision strikes - their language - on military-related targets, that despite scenes of apartment buildings destroyed. Moscow also accuses Ukraine of attacking Russia with hundreds of drones throughout the weekend - in other words, framing this as a tit for tat. You know, as to Trump's criticism of Putin, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, he essentially took a pass. Let's listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DMITRY PESKOV: (Non-English language spoken).
MAYNES: So here, Peskov thanks the U.S. and Trump, in particular, for what he framed as a meaningful diplomatic efforts towards peace, but suggested that Trump, along with everyone, was experiencing what Peskov called emotional overload from the Ukraine negotiations.
KELLY: Emotional overload? And then also praising President Trump for his diplomacy? Is that a surprisingly mild response, Charles, from the Kremlin, to the allegation that Putin has gone, quote, "absolutely crazy"?
MAYNES: Well, you know, keep in mind, it was just a week ago that Trump and Putin held their phone call in which Trump declared Moscow and Kyiv ready to immediately start negotiating a ceasefire. They have not. And critics accuse the Kremlin of dragging out peace talks as Russia continues to attack Ukraine, arguably with Trump now giving Moscow diplomatic cover.
I should note that today, Trump threatened new sanctions against Moscow if it didn't stop these attacks. But that's a threat that he didn't back up when Putin said no to a ceasefire and promised more talks instead. So maybe the way to look about this is Russia's latest attempt of trying to not antagonize Trump - even praise him - as Russia feigns progress towards a peace that just isn't there.
KELLY: Well, and meanwhile, what about Ukraine? Because Ukraine's president, President Zelenskyy, was also on the receiving end of Trump's ire over the weekend.
MAYNES: You know, he was. Zelenskyy clearly irritated Trump by calling out the, quote, "silence of America" as these attacks were unfolding, adding that without truly strong pressure on Putin, this brutality would not stop. Trump appears to have taken this as a dig at his mediation efforts and said Zelenskyy was doing his country no favors by talking the way he does. What that means, we'll have to see, but either way, you know, this weekend was discouraging for anyone who wants an end to this war.
KELLY: Indeed. NPR Moscow correspondent Charles Maynes. Thanks, Charles.
MAYNES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
