Trump makes desperate plea to Putin after Russian drone strike kills 9 people in Ukraine

President Donald Trump has slammed President Vladimir Putin while pushing for a peace deal.

Russia attacked Kyiv with an hours-long barrage of missiles and drones in the early hours of this morning (April 24), local time, and the US President has now issued a response.

The attack in question killed at least nine people and injured more than 70, making it the deadliest assault on the Ukrainian capital since last July, just as peace efforts are coming to a head.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after is cutting short his official trip to South Africa and returning home to deal with Russia’s biggest attack on Kyiv in nine months, as he branded it as 'one of [Russia’s] most outrageous'.

Now, President Trump has weighed in on the devastation, slamming the 'unnecessary' bombing.

Residents pictured cleaning up the aftermath of the Russian missile attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 24 (Danylo Antoniuk/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Taking to Truth Social, he posted: "I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!"

Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko announced that Friday would be an official day of mourning in the capital.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia fired 66 ballistic and cruise missiles, four plane-launched air-to-surface missiles, and 145 Shahed and decoy drones at Kyiv and four other regions of Ukraine.

Rescue workers with flashlights scoured the charred rubble of partly collapsed homes as the blue lights of emergency vehicles lit up the dark city streets.

The attack came as weeks of peace negotiations appeared to be culminating without an agreement in sight, and hours after Trump lashed out at Zelenskyy, accusing him of prolonging the 'killing field' by refusing to surrender the Russia-occupied Crimea Peninsula as part of a possible deal.

Yesterday (23 April), Trump heavily criticized Zelenskyy on Truth Social before hinting that the conflict in Eastern Europe could soon be coming to an end.

He wrote: "We are very close to a Deal, but the man with 'no cards to play' should now, finally, GET IT DONE. I look forward to being able to help Ukraine, and Russia, get out of this Complete and Total MESS, that would have never started if I were President!"

Rescuers and civilians worked to pull victims from the rubble of a missile strike on a residential building that took place in the early hours of this morning, local time (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)

Just days ago, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a warning to both Russia and Ukraine to state that Americwould not necessarily wait months for a peace deal between the nations to be struck, and gave them an ultimatum.

Rubio, who has been charged with brokering a deal between the two nations that have been at war since Russia invaded its southern neighbor in February 2022, warned that if there's no indication that a truce can be struck in the coming days, the US will back away from the negotiation table.

"We're not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end," Rubio said, before stating that there are 'other priorities to focus on'.

Having met with European leaders in Paris on April 17, the former presidential candidate told the press: "We need to determine very quickly now - and I'm talking about a matter of days - whether or not this is doable.

"If it's not going to happen, then we're just going to move on."