US President Donald Trump has described Ukraine's Operation Spider's Web, which resulted in the destruction of Russian strategic aviation aircraft, as "strong" and "badass".

Source: Axios, citing its sources who discussed the Ukrainian operation with Trump, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The sources stated that Trump was also worried the Ukrainian drone attack could complicate his efforts to broker a ceasefire.

Axios notes that Trump remained notably reserved in public when asked about his personal reaction to the Ukrainian strike. However, in private, he was enthusiastic.

"Pretty strong," Trump told one of his confidants, who conveyed his words to Axios. 

"He thought it was badass," another source said of Trump’s reaction.

One of Trump’s advisers commented: "From an international perspective, you've got a chihuahua inflicting some real damage on a much bigger dog".

Meanwhile, Trump has also told people he met in recent days that the drone attack is likely to push Russian ruler Vladimir Putin into taking very serious retaliatory steps, another informed source said.

That source added Trump is concerned the situation might derail his diplomatic initiative, which has led to the first direct talks between Ukraine and Russia 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 spoke to Trump.

One reason for concern in the White House is that the Ukrainian attack targeted strategic bombers, which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and are a key component of Russia’s nuclear deterrence.

"This is a very dangerous point," a US official stated.

The source said Trump was not surprised by the Ukrainian strike "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," a senior White House official said.

Despite these concerns, Trump was impressed by Ukraine’s actions.

Background:

• On 4 June, US President Donald Trump said he had had a "good conversation" with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin. Trump added that Putin "did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields".
• The North Atlantic Alliance hailed Ukraine's Operation Spider's Web targeting Russian strategic aircraft as highly successful.
• Meanwhile, the White House stated that Ukraine has increased the level of risk through its actions.

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