President Donald Trump issued a rare rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russia launched a major attack on Ukraine overnight. He later said he believed Putin would listen to his plea to halt Russian strikes on Ukraine and expressed optimism about a potential peace deal.

Trump criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for “shooting missiles into civilian areas” in a post on Truth Social Saturday morning, hours after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelensky used the funeral of Pope Francis to launch a diplomatic blitz to head off a U.S. proposal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine on terms favorable to Moscow.