President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Vladimir Putin intends to retaliate “very strongly” against Ukraine for a surprise drone strike on Russian airfields over the weekend, a declaration that provoked alarm in Washington and abroad even as Trump touted his efforts to bring peace to the region.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he's spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and that the Russian leader told him “very strongly” that he will respond to Ukraine’s weekend drone attack on Russian airfields.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump in a telephone conversation on Wednesday that Moscow would have to respond to the recent Ukrainian drone attacks, the U.S. President said.Trump said the two men "discussed the attack on Russia’s docked airplanes,