• Source says Putin demanding control of entire Donetsk region
  • Trump says Zelenskiy has ‘gotta make a deal’
  • Zelenskiy reported to have rejected demand
  • Zelenskiy to visit Trump on Monday with European back-up
  • Europeans say they will maintain or increase pressure on Russia

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW/KYIV, Aug 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Ukraine should make a deal to end the war with Russia because “Russia is a very big power, and they’re not”, after a summit where Vladimir Putin was reported to have demanded more Ukrainian land.

After the two leaders met in Alaska on Friday, Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Putin had offered to freeze most front lines if Kyiv ceded all of Donetsk, the industrial region that is one of Moscow’s main targets, a source familiar with the matter said.

  • @[email protected]English
    81•3 days ago

    In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump signalled that he and Putin had discussed land transfers and security guarantees for Ukraine, and had “largely agreed”.

    “I think we’re pretty close to a deal,” he said, adding: “Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they’ll say ‘no’.”

    Asked what he would advise Zelenskiy to do, Trump said: “Gotta make a deal.”

    “Look, Russia is a very big power, and they’re not,” he added.

    Yeah, Russia, the very big power, who takes three years and over a million casualties and still hasn’t completed a “special military operation” that totally isn’t even an invasion.

    Trump’s brain is trapped in 1970, so for now I guess so are we.

    • @[email protected]
      13•3 days ago

      I agree that Russia has performed pathetically in the war, yet European governments still seem to be shitting themselves given their scrambling to increase defence spending. Russia is both strong and weak.

      • @[email protected]
        7•2 days ago

        A lot of the increase in defense spending seems to have been in response to America being ruled by Trump and Europe realizing they can’t rely on us for protection anymore. Trump has talked about leaving NATO. When your strongest ally seems to be backing down from defending you, you’re gonna increase defense spending to make sure you can still defend yourself.

        • @[email protected]
          5•2 days ago

          There’s also a chance that America will not only be an unreliable ally but an aggressor. They have to defend against that as well as what’s left of Russia’s capabilities (which will again be temporarily strengthened if they sack and destroy Ukraine).

      • @[email protected]English
        16•2 days ago

        My understanding is that NATO currently has the capacity to absolutely wreck Russia in every engagement, until they run out of ammo. So the new spending is supposed keep them from running out.

        • @[email protected]
          14•2 days ago

          Ammo factories ain’t cheap and even getting old machines running takes a tonne of time and money. Fun fact I knew a guy in northern Idaho who worked at an ammo factory with machines that dated back to WW1 though they have been upgraded, he was a racist prick.

          • LizEnglish
            3•2 days ago

            It’s unfortunate that the machine upgrades didn’t improve his racism.