Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump warned Putin he will bomb Moscow if Ukraine is attacked as Kyiv faces relentless drone strikes

“He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”

Trump’s last (known) call with Putin was on Thursday. But angered by the (somewhat late) realisation that the Russian leader is uninterested in immediately ending his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Trump has since vowed to send more defensive weapons to Kyiv. That reversed a Pentagon decision made just days earlier to stall critical munitions supplies.

This week Mr Trump has set his sights on Mr Putin after publicly knocking Iran and Israel’s heads together, but it remains to be seen if he will lose patience with Netanyahu during his trip to the US, writes chief international correspondent Bel Trew:

At least two people have been killed and 12 have been injured after Russian drones bore down on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in the early hours today.

Local city officials reported fires in apartment and non-residential buildings a day after a record number of drones targeted the country.

The head of Kyiv’s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said three people had suffered shrapnel wounds.

Six city districts had been hit, with fires breaking out in various buildings, storage areas and cars and drone fragments falling to the ground in different parts of the city, Mr Tkachenko said.

“The enemy attack is continuing,” he wrote. “The defence forces are taking on enemy targets.”

Ukraine’s military issued warnings on its Telegram channel that the city could also be subject to a missile attack.

Reuters witnesses reported a series of loud explosions.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said emergency crews were at an apartment building in the central Shevchenkivskyi district, where falling drone fragments had triggered a fire on the top floor. Another fire was being tackled, also in the city centre.

Since just after the war began in February 2022, the US has provided billions of pounds worth of support to Ukraine. It is the largest single nation supporter in financial terms of Ukraine’s war effort.

The Independent looks at how much support the US has provided to Ukraine’s war effort, why the Pentagon decided to pause shipments and what could happen from here:

The remark was among several captured in a series of audio tapes from 2024 fundraisers in New York and Florida. CNN aired the clips Tuesday night.

A trio of political journalists – Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager, and Isaac Arnsdorf – obtained the tapes and have written about the exchanges in their new book, 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America.

“With Putin I said, ‘If you go into Ukraine, I’m going to bomb the sh*t out of Moscow. I’m telling you I have no choice,” Trump said in the audio.

The Trump administration has resumed sending some weapons to Ukraine, a week after the Pentagon had directed that some deliveries be paused, US officials said.

The weapons heading into Ukraine include 155 mm munitions and precision-guided rockets known as GMLRS, two officials told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to provide details that had not been announced publicly. It’s unclear exactly when the weapons started moving.

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth directed the pause on some shipments last week to allow the Pentagon to assess its weapons stockpiles, in a move that caught the White House by surprise.

A White House official speaking yesterday on the condition of anonymity said there was never a “pause” in shipments, but a review to ensure US military support aligns with its defence strategy.

The official said the Pentagon never announced a pause.