‘Can you hit Moscow': Donald Trump's extraordinary question to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed as US puts pressure on Putin to end war
The contents of a call between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart were revealed by the UK's Financial Times on Tuesday, just one day after the US President ramped up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war.
"Volodymyr, can you hit Moscow? . . . Can you hit St Petersburg too?" the US president asked his Ukrainian counterpart in a conversation held on July 4.
Citing multiple sources, the outlet said the US President was asking about whether Ukraine could make Russia 'feel the pain' of the ongoing war.
'Absolutely. We can if you give us the weapons,' Mr Zelensky reportedly said in response.
President Trump responded to the reports by saying Ukraine 'should not target Moscow', with the White House saying the US President was "merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing".
When asked whether he was now on Ukraine's side, the US President said he was 'on nobody's side'.
'You know the side I'm on? Humanities side,' Trump said.
'I want to stop the killing of thousands of people a week. I want to stop the killing. I want the killing to stop in the Ukraine-Russia war. That's the side I'm on.'
The contents of Trump's call with Zelensky were revealed one day after the US President announced his administration would provide Ukraine with a major haul of 'top of the line weapons' and issued an ultimatum to President Putin.
During a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, President Trump said he was 'very unhappy' with Putin and that if the Russian President failed to agree a deal to end the war within 50 days the US would impose a '100 per cent' tariffs on Russian goods and Russia's trade partners.
"We're going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days, it's very simple,' President Trump said.
The secondary sanctions would see India and China hit with massive tariffs unless they stopped buying Russian oil, a trade worth hundreds of billions.
Trump also said the US would allow NATO allies to transfer Patriot missile systems, which would boost Ukraine's air defence.
The US will then replenish the stocks in the countries that send them, with the cost being borne by the US's NATO allies.
"We're going to make top-of-the-line weapons, and they'll be sent to NATO," Trump said.
"We're going to have some come very soon, within days.
Rutte said Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Canada all wanted to be a part of rearming Ukraine.
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