Trump eviscerated after calling Putin's slaughter of Ukrainian children 'a mistake'

Donald Trump’s description of the Russian attack on Sumy as a “mistake” is “preposterous”, a senior Ukrainian MP has said - insisting: “This is genocide”. At least 34 people were killed and 117 injured when Russian ballistic missiles struck the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Palm Sunday, with the victims including two children.

Mr Trump reacted by saying: "I think it was terrible, and I was told they made a mistake, but I think it's a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing... for that war to have started is an abuse of power." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack as an act of “filthy scum” and urged Mr Trump to visit his country. Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme, Oleksandr Merezhko, Ukrainian MP and chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said: "This kind of mistake has been continuing for more than three years.

"And you know Trump's statement is preposterous because you know such statements only embolden Putin to continue to commit crimes against the civilian population, to continue to target civilian objects, and I don't see a serious reaction on the part of the American president.

"To me, it's absolutely unacceptable. Before, when Trump was asked about Russian atrocities, he said something like, 'it's a war, you know', implying that it's something natural.

"But it's not natural. These are serious crimes. It's a genocide committed by Russia against the Ukrainian people.”

There were fresh attacks on Odesa on Sunday night.

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