FT: Trump asked Zelenskyy if he could hit Moscow
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a call on July 4, citing two people familiar with the conversation.
The newspaper quoted Trump as asking: "Volodymyr, can you hit Moscow? ...Can you hit St. Petersburg too?"
It said Zelenskyy replied: "Absolutely. We can if you give us the weapons."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized the report for taking words out of context, saying he "was merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing."
Trump also reacted to the story, telling reporters Zelenskyy "shouldn't target Moscow," and that the US is not looking to give long-range missiles to Ukraine.
Trump on Monday ramped up the pressure on Russia to end the conflict. He promised to send more weapons to Kyiv, including Patriot air defense systems. He also threatened Moscow with steep tariffs if it doesn't reach a peace deal within 50 days.
On Tuesday, Russia and China both reacted to Trump's moves.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called Trump's statements quite serious, and said Russia will need time to analyze them.
China weighed in on Trump's threat to slap "secondary tariffs" on buyers of Russian products if Moscow keeps stalling.
At a news briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said: "Tariff wars have no winners. Coercion and pressuring will lead nowhere."
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Beijing, where both sides confirmed their commitment to boosting cooperation.
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