WASHINGTON, July 18. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump told Vladimir Zelensky that Ukraine would achieve nothing by staying on the defensive and must go on the offensive, The Washington Post (WP) reported.

"In his July 4 call with Zelensky, Trump said that Ukraine would not change the course of the war by playing defense and needed to go on the offensive," an unnamed Ukrainian official told the newspaper.

Trump also asked "if Ukraine could bomb Moscow or St. Petersburg", to which Zelensky replied, "If we have the right weapons we can." This detail of the conversation was previously reported by The Financial Times.

On July 15, the White House stated that US President Donald Trump had not urged Vladimir Zelensky to carry out new strikes deep into Russian territory, including attacks on Moscow.