Donald Trump has said Vladimir Putin is “not looking to attack NATO territory,” even as a suspected Russian drone operation at a German airport triggered anger and alarm across Europe.
Asked about the incident in the Oval Office on Friday, the US President stood by his assessment of the Russian leader. “I speak to him. I know him very well,” Trump said. “Putin’s not looking to attack NATO territory.”
The case has deepened security concerns after drones carrying explosives were discovered, including one reportedly found near a Ukrainian jet and another at a NATO logistics hub.
European security officials suspect the incidents are part of Moscow’s wider hybrid warfare strategy targeting nations that have backed Ukraine since Putin ordered the full-scale invasion in 2022.
US intelligence is understood to have assessed that Russian secret services were likely behind the August attack, after DNA recovered from a drone was reportedly linked to a suspected Russian sabotage operation at the same airport two years earlier.
Trump’s decision not to directly condemn the Kremlin is expected to intensify questions about Washington’s commitment to NATO.
His comments also came as he dispatched envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to Moscow and Kyiv with a proposal aimed at ending the nearly four-year war in Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Britain summoned a senior Russian diplomat over what it called last month’s “egregious and reckless” attack at Leipzig airport, as Andy Burnham and other Western leaders voiced support for Germany.
US President Donald Trump made an announcement on Friday in the Oval Office at the White House on Friday
Police forensic technicians prepare to deploy an explosive-disposal robot near a Ukrainian aircraft at Leipzig-Halle Airport, Germany, August 5, 2026
Burnham expressed the UK’s ‘full solidarity’ with Berlin and said Russian attempts to weaken support for Ukraine were ‘futile and doomed to fail’.
The developments come at a particularly fraught moment for Nato, as Russian drones repeatedly test the defences of countries along the alliance’s eastern frontier. But other European nations are also increasingly coming under threat.
Germany has repeatedly reported suspicious drone sightings over military and industrial sites. At the beginning of August, police defused a drone carrying explosives near a Ukrainian cargo plane in Leipzig.
And another drone was reportedly found weeks later near the airport, also with traces of an explosive substance.
The airport in eastern Germany plays a key role in the transport of military goods, including by the German military and Nato allies, and also serves as a base for Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines.
Moscow has denied involvement.
Germany, however, said the attempted strike formed part of a wider campaign of ‘Russian hybrid operations’, while Brussels claimed it bore ‘all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism’.
European governments have repeatedly accused the Kremlin of orchestrating sabotage plots aimed at undermining support for Ukraine and sowing instability across the continent.
A forensic technician works alongside a bomb-disposal robot near a Ukrainian aircraft at Leipzig Halle Airport
Jared Kushner (L) and Steve Witkoff stand prior to a quadrilateral meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Burgenstock in Switzerland in June
Warnings have also mounted over Russian spy ships allegedly targeting Britain’s critical undersea infrastructure, while a former Russian foreign minister recently suggested UK drone factories could be hit by ‘unknown sources’.
The last known telephone call between Trump and Putin was in July, while the two men last met in person a year ago in a summit in Alaska that failed to produce a breakthrough on Ukraine.
Trump’s son-in-law Kushner and businessman friend Witkoff’s upcoming visit will be their first to war-torn Kyiv since Trump returned to office last year with a vow to solve the conflict.
And follows CIA director John Ratcliffe’s surprise visit to Moscow last month, where he reportedly issued a warning to the Kremlin not to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.
Both US envoys have previously visited Moscow, leading to accusations that they have taken Russia’s side in negotiations.
‘They’re bringing with them a proposal to end the war,’ Trump said when asked about the trip on Friday.
Trump would not say whether the plan involved Ukraine ceding territory as he has previously suggested but added: ‘We have an idea for peace.’
‘I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They’ve done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we’ll do it,’ he said.
The US leader blamed the war that began with Russia invading Ukraine in February 2022 on a ‘personality problem’ between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky earlier said he had proposed observing a ceasefire with Russia while the US envoys visit Moscow and Kyiv.
‘There will be no airstrikes on our part, and Russia must reciprocally ensure a ceasefire – without its own airstrikes – for the duration needed to conduct these talks,’ Zelensky said in his evening address.
A senior Ukrainian official said the two envoys would visit Kyiv on Sunday. The Kremlin declined to comment on the matter.
The US news outlet Axios said Kushner and Witkoff would travel on Friday, meet Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday, and then Zelensky in Kyiv on Sunday.
The two men have also been involved in negotiations for ceasefires in Gaza and Iran.
Trump has long been skeptical about maintaining support for Ukraine and had a televised row with Zelensky in the Oval Office in February 2025. With Putin, he has veered between friendliness and frustration.
The US leader said on Thursday that he would ask Europeans to repay the American aid provided to Ukraine under the administration of his predecessor Joe Biden.
Trump has long demanded that Europeans shoulder more of the cost of Western support for Ukraine.
This follows the US President saying in July it is ‘ridiculous’ for America to continue the current level of support for Nato.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president said his country’s place in the Western alliance was ‘one sided’ and ‘not reciprocal’.
He shared a graph of Nato defence spending alongside the caption: ‘Ridiculous for the U.S.A. to continue along this one sided path when the relationship is not reciprocal. They were not there for us!!! President DJT.’
- READ MORE: Fears Putin has targeted Germany AGAIN after two more suspected attacks on electricity grid overnight
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