LONDON -- President Donald Trump again on Monday expressed frustration with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as Russian strikes on Ukraine continued despite White House efforts to broker a peace deal between the warring neighbors."Every conversation I have with him is a good conversation," the president told reporters of Putin during an Oval Office executive order signing event."And then unfortunately, a bomb is loaded up into Kyiv or someplace, and then I get very angry about it."Trump has repeatedly admonished Putin for Russia's nightly strikes on Ukrainian cities.
Nonetheless, the president told reporters he was still hopeful of progress towards a peace deal."I think we're going to get the war done," Trump said, though added, "You never know what's going to happen in a war.Strange things happen in war.
The fact that [Putin] went to Alaska, our country, I think, was a big statement that he wants to get it done."MORE: Russia hits Ukraine with drones as Kyiv celebrates independence dayFirefighters work at the site of the Russian missile strike in the village of Sknyliv on the outskirts of Lviv, Ukraine, on Aug.21, 2025.Roman Baluk/ReutersMORE: Why a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting matters -- and why it might not happenBoth Russia and Ukraine continued long-range strikes through the weekend and into Monday.
On Tuesday, Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 59 drones into the country overnight, of which 47 were shot down or suppressed.The air force reported impacts of 12 drones across nine locations.Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces downed at least 51 Ukrainian drones overnight into Tuesday morning, two which were en route to Moscow.Following in-person meetings with Putin in Alaska and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy -- plus a host of European leaders -- in Washington, D.C., earlier this month, Trump raised the hope of an imminent bilateral meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents.MORE: Russia launches largest attack of August o...