‘Very disappointed': Putin launches largest attack on Ukraine since start of war after call with Trump
The attack – Russia's largest aerial strike since the start of the three-year invasion – saw Moscow fire a record 550 drones and 11 missiles at Ukraine on Thursday night into Friday local time, according to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 23 people were wounded in the Russian barrage, with air alerts beginning to echo out across the country as reports of the Presidents' call emerged.
'Yet again, Russia is showing it has no intention of ending the war and terror,' Mr Zelensky wrote on social media.
'All of this is clear evidence that without truly large-scale pressure, Russia will not change its dumb, destructive behaviour,' he added, urging the US in particular to ramp up pressure on Moscow.
A representative of Ukraine's air force told Ukrainian media that the attack was the largest of the Russian invasion.
'Complete disregard'
Taking to social media after the attack, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha slammed Mr Putin for 'his complete disregard', saying Kyiv experienced an 'absolutely horrible and sleepless night'.
'Right after Putin spoke with President Trump. And he does it on purpose. Enough of waiting!' he wrote on X.
'Putin clearly shows his complete disregard for the United States and everyone who has called for an end to the war.'
In Kyiv, AFP journalists saw dozens of residents of the capital taking shelter in a metro station.
Overnight, Russia attacks have escalated over recent weeks as concerns mount in Kyiv over the continued delivery of US military aid, which is key to Ukraine's ability to fend off the drone and missile barrages.
An AFP tally shows Moscow launched a record number of drones and missiles at Ukraine in June, as direct peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow appeared to stall.
'Very disappointed': Trump said he made no progress with Putin on call
The strike came hours after Mr Trump said he made no progress with Mr Putin on ending the war during a phone conversation on Thursday, which left him 'very disappointed'.
'It was a pretty long call, we talked about a lot of things including Iran, and we also talked about, as you know, the war with Ukraine. And I'm not happy about that,' the US President told reporters before boarding Air Force One for a flight to Iowa.
Asked if he had moved closer to a deal to end the war, Mr Trump replied: 'No, I didn't make any progress with him at all.'
He later told reporters on his return to Washington from Iowa: 'I'm very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don't think he's there.'
'I don't think he's looking to stop and that's too bad,' he added.
Mr Trump's view of the call was unusually bleak. After most of his previous five calls with Mr Putin since returning to power in January, he has given optimistic reports of progress towards a deal.
But he has shown increasing frustration with Mr Putin after an early pivot towards the Russian leader.
In recent weeks, he knocked back Mr Putin's offer to mediate in the Iran-Israel conflict, telling him to focus on the Ukraine war instead.
In Moscow, the Kremlin said the call lasted almost an hour and said that Putin had insisted he would not give up on Russia's goals.
'Our president said that Russia will achieve the aims it set, that is to say the elimination of the root causes that led to the current state of affairs,' Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
'Russia will not give up on these aims.'
Moscow has long described its maximalist aims in Ukraine as getting rid of the 'root causes' of the conflict, demanding that Kyiv give up its NATO ambitions.
Mr Trump's grim assessment came as US-led peace talks on ending the more than three-year-old conflict in Ukraine have stalled, and after Washington paused some weapons shipments to Kyiv.
Moscow's war in Ukraine has killed hundreds of thousands of people since it invaded in February 2022, and Russia now controls large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.
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The Age
an hour ago
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‘Going to be a reckoning': The ticking time bomb in Trump's big beautiful bill
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'It must be a matter of urgent concern for American policymakers to restore an appropriate relationship between spending on debt service and spending on national security.' Enter Donald Trump and his One Big Beautiful Bill. A grab bag of Trump's policy priorities, the bill bounced its way through Congress this week to arrive at the president's desk for signing on Friday, Independence Day (Saturday AEST), in a highly symbolic display of his sway over the Republican Party and indeed the country. Loading It caps an extraordinary two weeks in which Trump bombed Iran, dominated a NATO summit, shepherded a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, won a significant and highly consequential victory in the US Supreme Court, opened a detention centre nicknamed 'Alligator Alcatraz' and, now, will ink his signature piece of legislation. 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'Call me a European grinch, but I felt I had arrived on planet Pangloss,' she told subscribers in a note after the 'big, beautiful, bonkers' bill passed. 'I worry that Trumponomics 2.0 is eroding the foundations of America's economy in more fundamental ways than many people are willing to admit.' Ticking time bomb Steven Hamilton, an Australian assistant professor of economics at George Washington University, says the debate over how to measure the One Big Beautiful Bill's impact on debt is moot. The point, he says, is that it presumes current policy can go on forever, and 'letting current policy go on forever is nuts'. 'Within 10 years, US debt to GDP will be approaching 130 per cent, which is well above any time in US history, well above World War II and beyond the level anyone really thinks is sustainable,' Hamilton says. 'That's with the debt we have, and what we're planning to do is increase debt by another 25 per cent over the next 10 years. 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Even if such a collapse doesn't happen on its own, says Hamilton, the US debt burden leaves it in a precarious position to deal with a crisis, such as a future pandemic, war with China, or some sort of crisis arising from the advent of artificial intelligence technology. 'There are all sorts of things we don't know,' he says. 'We're exposing ourselves to enormous risk.' Much of that risk depends on what happens to interest rates in coming years. Low rates between the GFC and the COVID-19 pandemic made US debt more affordable. That era is now over. Loading Trump has been badgering Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell for months to lower interest rates, saying it is costing the US government hundreds of billions of dollars a year in interest payments on its debt. But it is the long-term trajectory that matters, and Block says the consequences could be disastrous. 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News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Hamas says holding consultations on Gaza truce proposal
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The Advertiser
3 hours ago
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Israeli kills 15 in Gaza as Trump waits for Hamas reply
At least 15 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza, according to local health officials, as US President Donald Trump says he expects Hamas to respond to his "final proposal" for a ceasefire in Gaza in the next 24 hours. Health officials at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, said the Israeli military had carried out an air strike on a tent encampment west of the city early on Friday, killing 15 Palestinians displaced by nearly two years of war. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. Later on Friday, Palestinians gathered to perform funeral prayers before burying those killed overnight. "The ceasefire will come, and I have lost my brother? There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother," said 13-year-old Mayar Al Farr as she wept. Her brother, Mahmoud, was among those killed. 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In Tel Aviv, families and friends of hostages held in Gaza were among demonstrators who gathered outside a US embassy building on US Independence Day, calling on Trump to secure a deal for all of the captives. Demonstrators set up a symbolic Shabbat dinner table, placing 50 empty chairs to represent those who are still held in Gaza. Banners hung nearby displaying a post by Trump from his Truth Social platform that read, "MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!" The Sabbath, or Shabbat, observed from Friday evening to Saturday nightfall, is often marked by Jewish families with a traditional Friday night dinner. The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, while displacing most of the population of more than two million, triggering widespread hunger and leaving much of the territory in ruins. At least 15 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza, according to local health officials, as US President Donald Trump says he expects Hamas to respond to his "final proposal" for a ceasefire in Gaza in the next 24 hours. Health officials at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, said the Israeli military had carried out an air strike on a tent encampment west of the city early on Friday, killing 15 Palestinians displaced by nearly two years of war. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. Later on Friday, Palestinians gathered to perform funeral prayers before burying those killed overnight. "The ceasefire will come, and I have lost my brother? There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother," said 13-year-old Mayar Al Farr as she wept. Her brother, Mahmoud, was among those killed. Trump earlier said it would probably be known in 24 hours whether Hamas has accepted a ceasefire between the Palestinian militant group and Israel. On Tuesday, the president announced that Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties would work towards ending the war. Hamas, which has previously declared it would only agree to a deal for a permanent end to the war, has said it was studying the proposal, but given no public indication whether it would accept or reject it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is yet to comment on Trump's ceasefire announcement. While some members of his right-wing coalition oppose a deal, others have indicated their support. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group has refused to discuss. In Tel Aviv, families and friends of hostages held in Gaza were among demonstrators who gathered outside a US embassy building on US Independence Day, calling on Trump to secure a deal for all of the captives. Demonstrators set up a symbolic Shabbat dinner table, placing 50 empty chairs to represent those who are still held in Gaza. Banners hung nearby displaying a post by Trump from his Truth Social platform that read, "MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!" The Sabbath, or Shabbat, observed from Friday evening to Saturday nightfall, is often marked by Jewish families with a traditional Friday night dinner. The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, while displacing most of the population of more than two million, triggering widespread hunger and leaving much of the territory in ruins. At least 15 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza, according to local health officials, as US President Donald Trump says he expects Hamas to respond to his "final proposal" for a ceasefire in Gaza in the next 24 hours. Health officials at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, said the Israeli military had carried out an air strike on a tent encampment west of the city early on Friday, killing 15 Palestinians displaced by nearly two years of war. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. Later on Friday, Palestinians gathered to perform funeral prayers before burying those killed overnight. "The ceasefire will come, and I have lost my brother? There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother," said 13-year-old Mayar Al Farr as she wept. Her brother, Mahmoud, was among those killed. Trump earlier said it would probably be known in 24 hours whether Hamas has accepted a ceasefire between the Palestinian militant group and Israel. On Tuesday, the president announced that Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties would work towards ending the war. Hamas, which has previously declared it would only agree to a deal for a permanent end to the war, has said it was studying the proposal, but given no public indication whether it would accept or reject it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is yet to comment on Trump's ceasefire announcement. While some members of his right-wing coalition oppose a deal, others have indicated their support. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group has refused to discuss. In Tel Aviv, families and friends of hostages held in Gaza were among demonstrators who gathered outside a US embassy building on US Independence Day, calling on Trump to secure a deal for all of the captives. Demonstrators set up a symbolic Shabbat dinner table, placing 50 empty chairs to represent those who are still held in Gaza. Banners hung nearby displaying a post by Trump from his Truth Social platform that read, "MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!" The Sabbath, or Shabbat, observed from Friday evening to Saturday nightfall, is often marked by Jewish families with a traditional Friday night dinner. The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, while displacing most of the population of more than two million, triggering widespread hunger and leaving much of the territory in ruins. At least 15 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza, according to local health officials, as US President Donald Trump says he expects Hamas to respond to his "final proposal" for a ceasefire in Gaza in the next 24 hours. Health officials at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, said the Israeli military had carried out an air strike on a tent encampment west of the city early on Friday, killing 15 Palestinians displaced by nearly two years of war. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. Later on Friday, Palestinians gathered to perform funeral prayers before burying those killed overnight. "The ceasefire will come, and I have lost my brother? There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother," said 13-year-old Mayar Al Farr as she wept. Her brother, Mahmoud, was among those killed. Trump earlier said it would probably be known in 24 hours whether Hamas has accepted a ceasefire between the Palestinian militant group and Israel. On Tuesday, the president announced that Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties would work towards ending the war. Hamas, which has previously declared it would only agree to a deal for a permanent end to the war, has said it was studying the proposal, but given no public indication whether it would accept or reject it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is yet to comment on Trump's ceasefire announcement. While some members of his right-wing coalition oppose a deal, others have indicated their support. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group has refused to discuss. In Tel Aviv, families and friends of hostages held in Gaza were among demonstrators who gathered outside a US embassy building on US Independence Day, calling on Trump to secure a deal for all of the captives. Demonstrators set up a symbolic Shabbat dinner table, placing 50 empty chairs to represent those who are still held in Gaza. Banners hung nearby displaying a post by Trump from his Truth Social platform that read, "MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!" The Sabbath, or Shabbat, observed from Friday evening to Saturday nightfall, is often marked by Jewish families with a traditional Friday night dinner. The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, while displacing most of the population of more than two million, triggering widespread hunger and leaving much of the territory in ruins.
