ANKARA, July 8. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump has called Ukraine's strikes deep into Russian territory an escalation, but added they could help end the conflict.

"It’s an escalation. But it’s also an escalation that could lead to an end to [the conflict]," he told Vladimir Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attended the meeting, supported him: "I think this is the dynamic that changed this war in the last few months. The Russians find it more difficult to defend their own airspace. We hope that that is going to create a space now to negotiate the end of this war.".