Now, President Donald Trump appeared to offer a rationale for Ukraine to go on the offensive against Russia, notable rhetoric as the peace talks have stalled, and Moscow rejects European troops in Ukraine and launches the most significant attack in several weeks.
Moscow threw Trump’s Ukraine peace initiative into disarray on Thursday, August 21, insisting it must have a veto over any postwar support for the country as its forces carried out a large-scale overnight missile barrage, the Guardian reported. “It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invader’s country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defence, but is not allowed to play offence. There is no chance of winning! It is like that with Ukraine and Russia.”
And then, Trump, as is usual in his discourse, went on to attack his predecessor. “Crooked and grossly incompetent Joe Biden would not let Ukraine FIGHT BACK, only DEFEND.” Trump also asked, “How did that work out? Regardless, this is a war that would have NEVER happened if I were President – ZERO CHANCE. Interesting times ahead!!! President DJT.” Russia also had their say and in a series of hardline remarks, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said European proposals to deploy troops in Ukraine after a peace agreement would be tantamount to “foreign intervention”, which he called unacceptable for Russia. “We support the principles and security guarantees that were agreed in April 2022,” Lavrov said in comments that cast doubt on any prospect for further peace negotiations. “Anything else is, of course, a futile undertaking.”
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Casting doubt on a Putin-Zelensky meeting
France, Britain and Estonia had indicated they could send troops to a postwar Ukraine, while several other nations said they might take part, though much depends on US involvement.
After the recent Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, US officials said the Russian president had accepted the prospect of Western security guarantees for Ukraine. However, Lavrov’s statements suggest Moscow has changed their mind or that Washington misunderstood the Kremlin’s position from the outset.
Casting doubt on a bilateral meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, Lavrov said a bilateral meeting at the highest level would be possible only “if all issues requiring discussion are thoroughly prepared”.
Humiliating American business
The Ukrainian military said Moscow had fired 574 drones and 40 missiles in a major aerial assault that struck western regions, killing at least one person and injuring 15. Ukraine’s foreign minister said a major US electronics manufacturer was among the targets. “The message is clear: Russia is not looking for peace. Russia is attacking American business in Ukraine, humiliating American business,” said Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on Russian infrastructure supporting the war, with strikes on oil refineries pushing wholesale gasoline prices in Russia to all-time highs.
