GETTING PLAYED

Trump Fury After Putin Missile Strikes Jeopardize Peace Hopes

The attacks prompted Trump to make an uncharacteristic social media post.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a mockery of Donald Trump’s push for peace by launching one of the biggest bombardments against Ukraine in weeks, including striking a U.S. factory.

Days after Trump rolled out the red carpet for Putin in Alaska, Russia has downplayed expectations of a swift bilateral meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Moscow has also undercut the prospect of security guarantees and continued demanding control of Ukraine’s Donbas region.

Russia’s overnight bombardment was a particular blow to Trump’s peace effort, reportedly killing nine people and striking an American-Singaporean company in western Ukraine, which left several people hospitalized.

Zelensky posted that the factory was merely an “ordinary civilian enterprise, an American investment. They produced such familiar household items as coffee machines.”

The attack, which involved 574 Russian drones and 40 missiles according to Ukraine, prompted Trump to make a somewhat uncharacteristic post on Thursday that appeared to encourage Zelensky to go on the offensive.

“It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense. There is no chance of winning! It is like that with Ukraine and Russia. Crooked and grossly incompetent Joe Biden would not let Ukraine FIGHT BACK, only DEFEND. How did that work out?”

The post was viewed as a sign that Trump’s patience with his Russian counterpart may once again be wearing thin, two months after he conceded that “we get a lot of bullsh*t thrown at us by Putin” who was “very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”

But in the wake of last week’s Alaska summit and Monday’s meeting with European leaders, the White House was once again optimistic of a breakthrough.

For days, U.S. officials have insisted that a meeting with Putin and Zelensky would happen soon, and that security guarantees for Ukraine could be worked out in some form to protect the country from ongoing aggression once a deal was reached.

However, in his latest comments on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asserted that any security guarantees for Ukraine would be meaningless without Russia’s involvement.

HEADS YOU LOSE

Trump Hands Travel-Loving Vance Ultimate Poisoned Chalice

Farrah Tomazin

He also said Putin would only be willing to meet with Zelensky if all issues were “meticulously prepared at all preceding stages to ensure summits do not worsen the situation.”

And he issued a particularly scathing critique of European leaders following Monday’s Washington summit, accusing them of “clumsy” and unethical attempts to influence Trump’s stance on the Ukraine crisis.

“I am sure that in the West, and above all in the United States, they understand perfectly well that seriously discussing security issues without the Russian Federation is a utopia, it’s a road to nowhere,” he told a news conference.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Farrah TomazinPolitical Correspondent

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.