Russia urges US and UK to restrain Ukraine after attacks on bombers
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Russia Demands U.S., U.K. Response Over Bomber Attacks, Warns of Escalation
Russia expects a “clear response” from the U.S. and U.K. over Ukraine’s attacks on its bombers. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov denounced the actions as provocations. He accused the West of deliberately undermining progress toward a peaceful resolution.
He accused the U.S., U.K., and their European allies of deliberately undermining progress toward a peaceful resolution, despite Moscow’s claimed restraint ahead of the next round of talks in Istanbul. Ryabkov emphasized that any military response to the attacks will be determined by Russia’s Defense Ministry.
On broader diplomatic matters, Ryabkov said the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has shown more willingness to engage with Moscow and confirmed that dialogue between the two nations is ongoing. However, he also warned of anti-Russian elements within American political circles, accusing them of seeking to “destroy Russia.”
Ryabkov further criticized the election of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock as President of the UN General Assembly, describing it as a development with “negative consequences” for Russia. He reaffirmed Moscow’s openness to negotiations but stressed they must be based on “realistic” conditions.
Congress budget office says Trump tax bill could add $2.4 trillion to US debt
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday estimated that President Donald Trump’s tax-cut and spending bill will add about $2.4 trillion to the nation’s $36.2 trillion pile. Its assessment comes a day after key Trump ally Elon Musk blasted the bill as a ” disgusting abomination” The House-passed bill would reduce the federal government’s revenues by $3.67 trillion over a decade, the CBO forecasted on Wednesday. It would also reduce spending by $1.25 trillion. The measure is now awaiting action in the Senate, which is grappling with putting together its own version of the legislation in coming weeks. The CBO update does not include a forecast on the potential macroeconomic effects of the bill, which will be forthcoming. The updated analysis is expected to help guide the Republican-controlled Senate. The bill would extend corporate and individual tax cuts passed in 2017 during Trump’s first term in office, cancel many green-energy incentives passed by Democratic former President Joe Biden and tighten eligibility for health and food programs for the poor.
Item 1 of 2 U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) speak to members of the media, on the day of a closed House Republican Conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
Summary
Companies CBO sees $2.4 trillion debt impact in House-passed bill
Elon Musk criticizes bill, supports Republican deficit hawks
Senate Republicans divided on House-passed bill
WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) – The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday estimated that President Donald Trump’s tax-cut and spending bill will add about $2.4 trillion to the nation’s $36.2 trillion pile.
Its assessment comes a day after key Trump ally Elon Musk blasted the bill as a ” disgusting abomination ,” giving fresh support to Republican deficit hawks who have been pushing back against the measure.
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A CBO forecast of the bill released before it was passed by the House of Representatives cited nearly $3.8 trillion in added deficits onto the nation’s $36.2 trillion debt pile over a decade. But that was partly offset by some of the legislation’s cost-cutting elements. Factoring those in, the forecast was little changed.
The House-passed bill would reduce the federal government’s revenues by $3.67 trillion over a decade, the CBO forecasted on Wednesday, while reducing spending by $1.25 trillion.
The number of people in the United States without health insurance would increase by 10.9 million by 2034 due to policy changes in the House bill, the CBO said. Of that number, an estimated 1.4 million people would be undocumented immigrants who no longer would be covered in programs funded by the states.
The CBO update does not include a forecast on the potential macroeconomic effects of the legislation, which will be forthcoming. Republicans argue that extending existing tax cuts and adding new breaks, which are included in the House bill, would further stimulate the economy.
They made similar arguments in 2017 that the tax cuts would pay for themselves by stimulating economic growth, but the CBO estimates the changes increased the federal deficit by just under $1.9 trillion over a decade, even when including positive economic effects.
The 1,100-page bill would extend corporate and individual tax cuts passed in 2017 during Trump’s first term in office, cancel many green-energy incentives passed by Democratic former President Joe Biden and tighten eligibility for health and food programs for the poor. It also would fund Trump’s crackdown on immigration, adding tens of thousands of border guards and creating the capacity to deport up to 1 million people each year. Regulations on firearm silencers would be loosened.
Democrats blast the bill as disproportionately benefiting the wealthy while cutting benefits for working Americans. The measure is now awaiting action in the Senate.
The new CBO estimate takes into account late changes that were made to the bill as Republican leaders steered it to passage.
PLAYING DOWN MUSK
The White House and top congressional Republicans tried to play down the objections of Musk, who joined Trump’s team with brash promises of cutting $2 trillion in spending from the federal budget, but left last week having accomplished a small fraction of that.
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, speaking to reporters, tried to minimize the damage, saying, “We obviously respect everything that Elon did with DOGE. On this particular issue, we have a difference of opinion.”
The updated analysis is expected to help guide the Republican-controlled Senate, which is now grappling with putting together its own version of the legislation in coming weeks.
With Republicans holding a narrow 53-47 Senate majority, warring camps within the party are vying for changes to the House-passed bill. Some have been pushing to scale back the more than $700 billion in savings to Medicaid or to remove costly Trump-backed tax cuts for those earning overtime pay and tipped wages or income from Social Security retirement payments.
(This story has been corrected to fix the comparison with prior estimate in the headline and paragraphs 1, 3)
Reporting by Richard Cowan and Bo Erickson; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell
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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv’s audacious Operation Spiderweb ‘was like raid that killed Bin Laden’
Richard Blumenthal said Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb was ‘one of the great military achievements in recent years’ It comes as Ukrainian officials warned that the key Ukrainian city of Sumy is under threat as Russian troops advance along the northeastern frontline. The Russian army is constantly shelling border villages, head of the military administration, Oleh Hryhorov, said.
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Ukraine’s audacious drone attack on Russian bombers was a show of “skill and audacity” comparable to the US’s assassination of Osama Bin Laden, a US senator said.
Richard Blumenthal said Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb, which destroyed 41 Russian aircraft as far away as Siberia, was “one of the great military achievements in recent years”.
Kyiv’s security agency said 117 drones were smuggled into Russia over a year and simultaneously struck airfields in at least four regions thousands of kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
“It will rank with the United States raid on Osama bin Laden and the Israeli pager operation as one of the great military achievements in recent years,” Mr Blumenthal told Politico.
It comes as Ukrainian officials warned that the key Ukrainian city of Sumy is under threat as Russian troops advance along the northeastern frontline.
Vladimir Putin’s forces have taken around 9 miles of the frontline in the region, with Sumy’s surrounding farms and villages facing “constant shelling”.
“The Russian army is constantly shelling border villages, hitting residential buildings, farms, and civilian infrastructure facilities,” head of the military administration, Oleh Hryhorov, said.
Putin tells Trump Russia has to respond to Ukrainian attacks
Russian President Vladimir Putin tells U.S. President Donald Trump he will have to respond to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s nuclear-capable bomber fleet. Putin says he does not think Ukraine’s leaders want peace. Trump: “It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace” The war in Ukraine is intensifying after nearly four months of cajoling and threats to both Moscow and Kyiv from Trump. Russia and Ukraine met for direct peace talks in Istanbul where Moscow set out what the United States has called “maximalist” aims. The talks are expected to last until the end of the month, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, which cited a source as saying the talks will be held in Istanbul on Thursday. The United States and Britain have said they had no prior knowledge of the weekend attacks on Russian nuclear- Capable long-range bombers. The White House has said it was not informed of Ukraine’s attack before it unfolded.
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday that he would have to respond to high-profile Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s nuclear-capable bomber fleet and a deadly bridge bombing that Moscow blamed on Kyiv.
The war in Ukraine is intensifying after nearly four months of cajoling and threats to both Moscow and Kyiv from Trump, who says he wants peace after more than three years of the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two.
After Ukraine bombed bridges and attacked Russia’s fleet of nuclear-capable bombers deep in Siberia and Russia’s far north, Putin on Wednesday said he did not think Ukraine’s leaders wanted peace.
Shortly after Putin discussed the attacks with top ministers in Moscow, Trump said he had spoken by telephone with Putin for one hour and 15 minutes, and that they had discussed the Ukrainian attacks and Iran.
“We discussed the attack on Russia’s docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides. It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace,” Trump said on social media.
Russia has unleashed several massive aerial attacks on Ukraine over recent weeks.
“President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields,” Trump said, adding that he hoped Putin could be helpful in U.S. negotiations with Iran over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme.
Trump said he believed Putin agreed with Washington that Iran “cannot have a nuclear weapon,” and accused Tehran of “slowwalking” decisions regarding the talks.
Trump has been unusually silent on the Ukrainian attacks on the Russian bombers – one of the three pillars of Russia’s nuclear arsenal – though Moscow demanded that the United States and Britain restrain Ukraine.
The Kremlin said Trump had told Putin that Washington was not informed in advance of the Ukrainian attacks. Trump’s Ukraine envoy said the risk of escalation from the war in Ukraine was “going way up” after the strikes.
Russia and the United States are by far the world’s biggest nuclear powers: together they hold about 88% of all nuclear weapons.
Each has three ways of nuclear attack – strategic bombers, land-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles – and any attack on any part of the “triad” is considered a grave escalation.
WAR OR PEACE?
In some of his most hawkish remarks in recent months on the outlook for peace, Putin on Wednesday said the bridge attacks had been directed against civilians and accused Ukrainian leadership of being a “terrorist organisation” supported by powers who were becoming “terrorist accomplices.”
“The current Kyiv regime does not need peace at all,” Putin said at a meeting with senior officials. “What is there to talk about? How can we negotiate with those who rely on terror?”
Ukraine has not commented on the bridge attacks. It denies it targets civilians, as does Russia, though civilians have been killed by both sides.
Kyiv has similarly accused Moscow of not seriously wanting peace, citing as evidence Russian resistance to an immediate ceasefire. Russia says certain conditions must first be met.
Putin, in his public remarks, did not mention the bomber attacks, which came just before Russia and Ukraine met for direct peace talks in Istanbul where Moscow set out what the United States has called “maximalist” aims.
Before Putin spoke, other Russian officials said military options were “on the table” for its response to Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russia and accused the West of being involved in them.
“We urge London and Washington to react in such a way as to stop further escalation,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. Ryabkov oversees relations with the U.S. and arms control.
British and U.S. officials have said they had no prior knowledge of the weekend attacks on Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers. The White House has said Trump was not informed of Ukraine’s drone attack before it unfolded.
(Additional reporting by Dmitry Antonov, Maxim Rodionov, Anastasia Lyrchikova, Darya Korsunskaya, and Gleb Bryanski; Writing by Guy FaulconbridgeEditing by Gareth Jones and Rod Nickel)