print-icon
print-icon

Trump Says 'Not The Time' To Attack Putin's House, Glad He 'Stopped The Tomahawks'

Tyler Durden's Photo
by Tyler Durden
Authored...

Update(1405ET): In a new Monday phone call, President Putin drew President Trump's attention to the Ukrainian drone attack on his state residence in the Novgorod region - something which Zelensky is vehemently denying - and apparently Trump responded with a somewhat sympathetic ear to the Kremlin.

Putin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said that Trump was "shocked" at the large-scale drone attack which allegedly targeted Putin’s "official residence" in the Novgorod region. Moscow's readout of the call seems accurate, as shortly after Trump weighed in directly, expressing during a visit of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House that he was "angry" to learn of the attack and that it's "not the time" to attack Putin's house. Trump emphasized that he doesn't like what he heard this morning regarding the strike, and said it was good he prevented Kiev from getting Tomahawk missiles.

"This is not the right time. It's one thing to be offensive. It's another thing to attack his House. You can't do it. I learned about it from Putin. I am very angry about it."

"You're saying maybe the attack didn't place. I guess. But Putin told me it did. It better not have happened. We need Peace." --Trump

He also indicated things could change in terms of how his administration interacts with Ukraine's Zelensky after this brazen act. 

As for Zelensky, he's responded by calling this a Kremlin tactic:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed the accusation that Ukraine tried to attack Putin’s residence as a lie, adding that Moscow was preparing the ground to strike government buildings in Kyiv, according to the Reuters news agency.

Zelenskyy has urged the US to react to Russian threats accordingly and has cast the Russian claim as a way of undermining progress in peace talks following the Ukrainian leader’s meeting with Donald Trump yesterday.

European leaders are likely to see things from Zelensky's side, but one thing is for sure: it doesn't bode well for peace.

* * *

Update(1115ET): The Trump-backed effort to forge ahead on achieving peace in Ukraine may have just been completely derailed by a major development. Just as Trump described Monday morning that he had a 'positive' phone call with President Putin about Ukraine, the Kremlin is alleging that Ukraine launched a major drone attack on President Putin’s "official residence" in the Novgorod region from Sunday night into Monday. It is presumably one of many of his residences, and there's no indication he was there when the alleged attack wave occurred.

Fresh words of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicate that Ukraine fired 91 drones targeting Putin's residence in what's being described as a sustained attack spanning hours, but that all of them were destroyed by the significant anti-air defenses.

PUTIN TOLD TRUMP ABOUT ATTACK ON ONE OF HIS RESIDENCES: IFX

Moscow now says it will "revise" its negotiating position on ending the war in Ukraine, after what it dubbed the overnight "terrorist attack." The Ukrainian government immediately rejected the allegation, calling it a "fabrication":

Lavrov said there was no damage or casualties resulting from the incident but that Russian armed forces had selected targets for “retaliatory strikes.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately rejected the claim as “a complete fabrication” from Russia.

There's a likelihood that the capital of Kiev is going to have a bad night, as this means more missiles and drones could rain down on the city once again, possibly even targeting key government headquarters buildings - as happened at least once before.

* * *

European defense stocks moved lower on Monday after President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made progress in talks aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

On Sunday evening, after the talks, Trump told reporters, "I do think we're getting a lot closer, maybe very close."

Zelensky told reporters the peace talks were a "really great discussion" in which U.S.-Ukraine security guarantees were "100% agreed" upon. He added, "We agree that security guarantees are a key milestone in achieving lasting peace."

Zelensky said Trump will host another meeting next month with Ukrainian and European officials to advance a peace deal that is nearing completion. Trump confirmed that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of the Zelensky talks and plans to hold another call with Putin.

The full summary of the Trump-Zelensky "great meeting" is available here.

The Goldman Sachs European Defense Index fell by roughly 2% on Monday following overnight developments.

Larger timeframe. 

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, the GS European Defense Index has delivered outsized annual returns.

UBS analyst Tricia Wright commented on the moves:

"Defense stocks were among the top fallers in Europe after the Trump-Zelensky meeting. The Italian defense group Leonardo declined by 4.4%, topping the STOXX Europe 600 fallers list, while Germany's Rheinmetall and Hensoldt were both down by about 3%. Talks to end the Ukraine war on Sunday spurred fresh optimism from U.S. President Trump, yet there are no clear signs that the two sides have reached a breakthrough, as Russia continues to push for land gains and reject a ceasefire," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Even as a potential peace deal in Eastern Europe nears, we expect defense stocks to remain elevated given record defense spending.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently wrote in a report on the rise in military expenditure: "The world is spending far more on waging war than on building peace."

Loading recommendations...