Mr. Trump has long praised Mr. Putin as a tough-minded leader, and has been scornful of Mr. Zelensky. Earlier this year, he scolded the Ukrainian president in a remarkable Oval Office encounter, calling him insufficiently grateful for American support.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces launched a massive aerial assault on Ukraine early Thursday for the second time in two days.

The truth is, he believed me 10%,' Trump said of the threat he made to Putin that he would bomb Moscow if Russia invaded Ukraine.