Russia to respond to Ukraine’s attack on airbases: Kremlin

MOSCOW

Moscow will decide "how and when" to respond to Ukraine's attacks on its airbases, the Kremlin said yesterday, confirming that Russian President Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump that Russia would retaliate.

Kiev's weekend strikes on Russian airfields deep inside Russia destroyed nuclear-capable aircraft and infuriated Moscow.

"As and when our military deems it appropriate," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked what Moscow's response would be.

The planes were parked at air fields deep inside Russian territory, including in Siberia.

After a phone call with Putin on June 4, Trump said on social media: "President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields."

Putin has repeatedly rejected a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine and on June 4 said that Kiev would use it to rearm and mobilize.

The Kremlin said that Putin and Trump did not agree on a time to meet during their phone conversation but that "there is an understanding that a meeting is necessary."

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian drone slammed into a residential house in central Ukraine overnight yesterday, killing three members of one family, including a one-year-old baby.

A total of five people were killed in Pryluky, a city in central Ukraine.

"Russia is constantly trying to buy time for itself to continue killing. When it does not feel strong enough condemnation and pressure from the world, it kills again," Zelensky said.

"We expect action from the United States, Europe, and everyone in the world who can really help change these terrible circumstances," he added.