Trump 'not happy' about Russian strike on US factory in Ukraine
U.S. President Donald Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin that he was "not happy" with Russia's recent attack on an American electronics plant in western Ukraine, Trump claimed on Aug. 22.
A Russian missile hit an electronics factory owned by the U.S. company Flex Ltd. during a large-scale attack on Aug. 21. The factory, which does not produce military equipment, is located far from the front lines in Mukachevo, Zakarpattia Oblast.
During an Oval Office briefing on Aug. 22, a reporter asked Trump if he had spoken to Putin about the attack on a U.S. company.
"I told him I'm not happy about it," Trump claimed. "And I'm not happy about anything having to do with that war."
Trump had not previously announced a conversation with Putin between the time of the attack and his White House briefing. Immediately before being questioned about Russia's strike on the U.S. factory, Trump showed reporters a photograph of him and Putin at the Alaska Summit that he said Putin sent.
"He's been very respectful of me and of our country," Trump said, adding that Putin was "not so respectful of others."
Trump also said he expected to know within two weeks how the U.S.-brokered peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine would unfold.
"Over the next two weeks we're gonna find out which way it's going to go, and I better be very happy," he said.
Trump first announced the new two-week timeline on Aug. 21, telling conservative commentator Todd Starnes the U.S. might pursue a new strategy if an agreement is not reached.
"We will know within two weeks whether there will be peace in Ukraine. After that we will have to maybe take a different tack," he said.
The White House has set a number of deadlines for a peace deal in Ukraine, none of which have been met. Trump several times threatened to impose sanctions against Russia if the Kremlin did not take action by a certain date, but has never followed through on any of those threats.
Following the Russian attack against Mukachevo on Aug. 21, President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of purposefully striking the U.S. facility amid ongoing peace talks.
"The Russians knew exactly where they lobbed the missiles. We believe this was a deliberate strike specifically on American-owned property here in Ukraine, on American investments. A very telling strike," he said.
The timing of the strike "is sending a message that American businesses are a target," Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, told the Kyiv Independent from the site of the attack in Mukachevo.
