Limits of Trump’s peace efforts shown in Russian strikes that killed nine children

The failure of Donald Trump to fulfil his campaign pledge of a swift end to the Ukraine war was brought into sharp relief by Russia’s killing of nine children in a missile strike.

Mourners attend the funeral service of 15-year-olds Alina Kutsenko and Danylo Nikitsky at a church in Kryvyi Rih, in Ukraine. Picture: AFP.

Donald Trump expressed his anger at Russia’s latest bombing on Ukraine after a missile strike killed nine children, describing the ongoing attacks as “horrible.”

As Ukrainian families held funerals on Monday (local time) for the children who perished in the Russian attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryviy Rih on Friday, Mr Trump told reporters he wasn’t “happy” with Moscow over the strikes.

After meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office, Mr Trump told reporters: “I’m not happy with the bombing. We’re meeting with (the Russian side) but I’m not happy. It’s a horrible thing.”

The latest bombing, which also killed 11 adults, has shaken even Ukrainians who are hardened to such attacks after three years of war and brought into focus Mr Trump’s failure to fulfil his campaign pledge of a swift end to the war.

Mourners brought flowers and soft toys to the playground in the middle of a residential area that was struck by a ballistic missile.

The United Nations said it was the largest verified loss of children’s lives in a single incident since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

“We are not asking for pity,” Kryviy Rih’s top official, Oleksandr Vilkul, wrote on social media. “We are demanding the world’s outrage.”

It has been weeks since Ukraine said it would be willing to commit to a full ceasefire, and Russia pledged to pause strikes on energy infrastructure. Russia has pressed on with offensives along the 1280km front lines, with both sides accusing each other of continuing infrastructure strikes.

Funeral workers carry coffins of children Danylo Nikittskyi, 15, and Alina Kutsenko, 15, killed by a Russian missile, during a funeral ceremony in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. Picture; AP.

Mr Trump has repeatedly said he is frustrated with Russia for stalling over a ceasefire that Ukraine already agreed to, but has given no indication that he was preparing to pressure the Kremlin, for instance by increasing sanctions. The Trump administration has also appeared to favour Russia by sparing it from a recent round of trade tariffs and echoing some of the Kremlin’s views.

At the Oval Office briefing, Mr Trump said the US wasn’t talking tariffs “because we are not doing business with Russia. They are at war.”

On Sunday, he again criticised the bombings, saying: “The bombing goes on and on and … Every week thousands of young people are being killed,” before repeating his claim that the war wouldn’t have started if he had been president.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian aerial strikes against Ukraine have increased. He said more than 2,000 missiles, guided bombs and explosive drones hit Ukrainian cities last week.

“The pressure on Russia is still not enough,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Sunday evening. “Russia is showing its real intentions – to continue the terror as long as the world allows it.”

The Kremlin, for its part, said on Monday that President Vladimir Putin supported the idea of a ceasefire, but a series of issues needed addressing.

“These questions are hanging in the air, and no one has given an answer to them yet,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, state news agencies reported.

Mr Peskov listed some of them, including limiting the strength of Ukraine’s military. Moscow has demanded sweeping concessions from Ukraine, including ceding territory and giving up efforts to integrate with the West.

Mr Zelensky expressed dismay at the muted US response to the Friday strike on the city of Kryviy Rih, his hometown.

The Russian Defence Ministry said it carried out “a precision strike with a missile with a high-explosive charge on a meeting with commanders and Western instructors in a restaurant,” causing losses of 85 service members and 20 vehicles.

Body cam footage from police in Kryviy Rih shows bodies strewn on the ground at a children’s playground as an officer checks them for signs of life.

“The little boy was just breathing,” a woman says, standing over a motionless body as a girl in a pink coat and pants screams for her mom.

In another clip, a woman screams: “My son! No!”

Teacher Iryna Kholod, 59, remembered Arina and Radyslav, both 7 years old and killed in Friday's strike, as being “like little suns in the classroom.”

Radyslav, she said, was proud to be part of a school campaign collecting pet food for stray animals. “He held the bag like it was treasure. He wanted to help,” she said.

After Friday evening, "two desks in my classroom were empty forever,” Ms Kholod said, adding that she still has unopened birthday gifts for them.

“How do I tell parents to return their textbooks? How do I teach without them?” she asked.

Only Patriot missiles can prevent such attacks Russian missile and drone tactics continue to evolve, making it harder to shoot them down, Yurii Ihnat, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian air force command, said on national television.

Russia's Iranian-designed Shahed drones have undergone significant upgrades, while Moscow is also modernising its ballistic missiles, he said.

Only the US Patriot missile defence system can help prevent attacks like the one in Kryvyi Rih, Mr Zelensky said.

He said he had instructed his defence and foreign affairs ministers to "work bilaterally on air defence, especially with the United States, which has sufficient potential to help stop any terror.”

Ukraine will send a team to Washington this week to begin negotiations on a new draft of a deal that would give the US access to Ukraine’s valuable mineral resources, Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said.

Dow Jones, AP