WASHINGTON, August 21. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump sees "no chance" of Ukraine winning the conflict with Russia unless it goes on the offensive.
In a post on his Truth Social media platform, the White House head again criticized the "crooked and grossly incompetent" administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden, which, he wrote, "would not let Ukraine fight back, only defend." As Trump sees it, "it is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders country."
"There is no chance of winning!" the US leader stated as he compared Ukraine to a sports team that "is not allowed to play offense."
On August 15, a meeting between Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, took place at a military base in Alaska. The summit lasted about three hours: there was a one-on-one discussion in the American leader’s limousine on the way to the main venue for the talks and a narrow "three-on-three" meeting. The Russian delegation also included Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while the American side was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff.
In a statement to the press following the talks, Putin said they mostly focused on resolving the Ukraine conflict. The Russian leader also called for turning the page in bilateral relations and resuming cooperation as he invited Trump to visit Moscow. For his part, the US president stressed that "great progress" had been made, even as not all positions were agreed upon at the meeting.