Trump delighted with Ukraine's attack on Russian air bases - Axios

Trump has been surprisingly quiet in public when it comes to his personal feelings about the Ukrainian attack. In private, however, he admired the operation.

"Pretty strong," Trump told one confidant, who relayed his remarks to Axios.

"He thought it was badass," a second source said of Trump's reaction.

Phone conversation

Sources who discussed the attack with Trump reported concerns about the ceasefire mission.

Trump had spoken to Putin on the phone the day before and told him that he was preparing a response to the strike on Russian air bases.

"It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace," Trump added.

According to the source, Trump is concerned that such a scenario could hinder his diplomatic initiative, which led to the first direct talks between the parties in three years.

"We want this war to end. We want it to de-escalate. So if Putin goes crazy in response, yeah, the president has concerns," said another source who has spoken to Trump.

White House concerns

One of the reasons why the Ukrainian attack worried the White House was that it targeted long-range bombers, which can carry nuclear weapons and are a key part of Russia's nuclear deterrent. "This is a very dangerous point," said a US official.

"The drone attack didn't surprise him, because this is what happens when the war continues, but he is concerned that it will prolong the fighting. He wants the fighting to stop, so it disappoints him whenever there is an attack like that," said a senior White House official.

However, despite these concerns, Trump was also impressed with what the Ukrainians had managed to do.

Operation Spiderweb

On June 3, Ukraine struck four air bases in Russia, using 117 drones launched from containers located close to the targets, in an operation codenamed Spiderweb.

According to US intelligence, a total of about 10 warplanes were destroyed and up to 20 were damaged.