- 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.
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.
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).