Donald Trump begs Putin to 'stop' in desperate plea after nine people killed in airstrike on Ukraine

Donald Trump has begged for Vladimir Putin to ‘stop’ in a desperate plea today following another deadly airstrike in Ukraine.

This comes after at least nine people were killed and more than 70 were left injured in a Russian airstrike on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

In what is described as the deadliest assault on the city since last July, it was struck with an hours-long barrage of missiles and drones overnight.

And just before 8:30am local time in Washington DC today (April 24), Trump sent a scathing message to Putin, featuring rare criticism of the Russian leader.

He said in a post on his Truth Social platform: “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying.

“Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 'more pressure' must be put on Russia to achieve a ceasefire (Viktor Kovalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

The US president's frustration is described as growing after an effort led by his administration for a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia has not made progress.

Just yesterday, Trump had lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, writing on the same platform: "He [Zelenskyy] can have peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole country."

Trump added that Ukraine's leader was the 'man with no cards to play'.

Since the war began when Russia invaded in February 2022, Zelenksyy has repeated many times that recognising occupied territory as Russia's is a red line for his country.

He also noted today that Ukraine had agreed to a US ceasefire proposal 44 days ago as a first step to a negotiated peace but that the attacks from Moscow had continued.