"No, he shouldn’t target Moscow," he said when fielding questions from reporters outside the White House, TASS reported.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier on Tuesday that Trump did not encourage Zelensky to carry out further strikes deeper inside Russia, including on Moscow, in contrast to what the Financial Times reported.
"President Trump was merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing. He's working tirelessly to stop the killing and end this war," she said in a statement to Newsweek.
According to the FT, Trump in a conversation with Zelensky on July 4 discussed the possibility of sending additional ATACMS missiles to Ukraine and also called for more strikes deeper inside Russian territory. Sources told the newspaper, confirming other news reports, that the US president asked Zelensky about the possibility of striking Moscow in the event that Washington provided Kiev with long-range weapons.
The newspaper said Trump made it clear that he supports the idea. The sources said Trump hopes the strikes will force the Kremlin to come to the negotiating table. According to the report, it remains unclear whether Trump will end up sending long-range weapons to Kiev.