Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care,” one of Putin’s top

Moscow mocks Trump, Trump says Moscow off limits, 2,000 Guard troops go home in California, Waltz deflects on Signalgate in Senate hearing.

The president’s call for Ukraine to avoid hitting Moscow continued his pattern of swinging between pressure on both sides to end the war and underscored the uncertainties about his strategy.

Donald Trump has privately discussed striking Moscow with Volodymyr Zelensky, as he considers whether to send long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, according to reports.In a recent phone call,

President Trump told reporters that Ukraine should not target Moscow following a report that he advised Ukraine to ramp up its attacks.

Trump wanted to "make them feel the pain," as he put it on the July 4 call, the Financial Times reported, and force Russia into peace negotiations. Zelensky said Ukraine could hit the cities if the U.S. supplied the weapons, per the Post.

The Kremlin on Tuesday reacted icily to Donald Trump's warnings to President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, saying that recent decisions by the U.S. president and the NATO military alliance would be interpreted by Kyiv as a signal to continue the war.