President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Vladimir Putin intends to retaliate “very strongly” against Ukraine for a surprise drone strike on Russian airfields over the weekend, a declaration that provoked alarm in Washington and abroad even as Trump touted his efforts to bring peace to the region.

President Trump said the Russian leader told him “very strongly” in a phone call Wednesday that he would respond to the drone assault on his country’s airfields.

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday that a second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine was useful despite Kyiv's attempt to disrupt them by staging attacks Putin considered terrorism,