After Trump's statements

Cheers in the Kremlin: “Total agreement” with the USA

Vladimir Putin and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (in the background)

(Bild: AFP)

Following the latest statements by US President Donald Trump on Ukraine, Moscow is rubbing its hands in glee and sees "complete agreement with the American government". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that the position of the current US administration is "more favourable to us than that of the previous one".

Further details have not yet been made public, but relations between the USA and Ukraine have been shaken following Trump's unfounded statements in recent days. The US President blamed Ukraine for the Russian war of aggression and described Volodymyr Zelensky as a "dictator without elections". In response, Zelensky described the US President as a victim of Russian disinformation. 

Trump sees Russia as having an advantage in negotiations to end the war: "I think the Russians want the war to end. They hold a little bit of the cards because they've taken a lot of territory," he said.

They hold a bit of the cards because they have taken a lot of territory.

US-Präsident Donald Trump sieht Russland im Krieg gegen die Ukraine im Vorteil.

According to Russia, it is advancing
Ukraine has been pushed completely onto the defensive, said a high-ranking Russian general. In the Russian border region of Kursk, the armed forces had recaptured more than 800 square kilometers. This is around two thirds of the territory that Ukraine has taken since the start of its surprise advance in August. The military has also conquered many areas in eastern Ukraine since then.

The army now controls 75 percent of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson and over 99 percent of the Luhansk region. The four regions that Russia annexed in violation of international law are now legally part of Russia and will never be returned to Ukraine. Russia currently controls just under a fifth of Ukraine.

The situation on the battlefield will not change in favor of Ukraine, which has largely lost the ability to produce the necessary weapons, equipment and ammunition, Moscow said.

Meeting between Selensky and Kellogg
Before a meeting scheduled for Thursday with Ukraine's special envoy Keith Kellogg, Zelensky reiterated his desire for "constructive" cooperation with the USA.