US President Donald Trump has said Russian President Vladimir Putin told him in a phone call that Russia will need to “respond” to Ukraine’s drone attack on four Russian airbases, which destroyed at least a dozen Russian military aircraft.
On the evening of June 4, 2025, Trump announced in a post on his Truth Social platform that the phone call with Putin had lasted one hour and 15 minutes.
“It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace,” Trump said.
“We discussed the attack on Russia’s docked [sic] airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides,” Trump added. “President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.”
The drone attack on June 1, 2025, known as Operation Spiderweb, targeted strategic airbases across Russia with 117 drones. Satellite imagery and drone footage indicate that the strikes damaged or destroyed dozens of aircraft, including Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers, as well as two A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft.
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) claimed that the operation has eliminated nearly one-third of Russia’s long-range cruise missile carriers and caused over $7 billion in damages.
The call also comes amid ongoing but inconclusive peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, with the latest round in Istanbul ending on June 2, 2025, without a ceasefire.
Trump, now in his second term, has positioned himself as a broker of peace between the two countries, though critics say his rhetoric often mirrors Russian narratives, particularly in portraying Ukraine’s defensive operations as escalatory.
In another Truth Social post on May 26, 2025, Trump said he had “always had a very good relationship” with Vladimir Putin but claimed the Russian leader had “gone absolutely crazy,” accusing him of killing civilians by launching missiles and drones into Ukrainian cities “for no reason whatsoever.”
Trump also criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he was “doing his country no favors” and that “everything out of his mouth causes problems.” He added, “I don’t like it, and it better stop.”
