Amid stalled peace talks, US President Donald Trump has for the first time acknowledged Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and suggested Kyiv to “play defence”. In a major shift in foreign policy, Trump appears to encourage Ukraine to strike Russia in a post on Truth Social on Thursday. “It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders country. It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense. There is no chance of winning! It is like that with Ukraine and Russia,” Trump said in a belligerent post.
“Crooked and grossly incompetent Joe Biden would not let Ukraine FIGHT BACK, only DEFEND. How did that work out? Regardless, this is a war that would have NEVER happened if I were President – ZERO CHANCE,” Trump wrote in apparent reference to the ban imposed on Ukraine by the Biden administration for the use of long-range Western missiles on Russian territory. “Interesting times ahead!!!” Trump concluded.
The fresh remarks stand in contrast to Trump’s earlier optimism regarding a possible peace deal between the two countries following his meeting with Putin in Alaska on August 15 where he hinted at a progress towards reaching a peace deal to end the three-year-war. Trump also cancelled his earlier plan to impose severe sanctions on the Kremlin if truce was not achieved.
The Alaska summit was followed by the meeting between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and EU leaders in the White house this week. Following the meeting with Zelenskiy, Trump said he was preparing to arrange a meeting between the Ukrainian leader and Putin. Trump briefed Zelenskiy and the European leaders that the Kremlin had agreed to the security guarantees for Ukraine resembling Nato’s Article 5. However, on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected the NATO-style security guarantees, instead offering that Moscow and Beijing be involved in the guarantees, a proposal that defies the purpose of the security guarantee.
Trump’s belligerent rhetoric on Thursday also follows large-scale Russia air raids across Ukraine that also involved a strike at a US factory in northwestern Ukraine.
