KEY POINTS
- Russia agrees with Trump’s call for Ukraine to negotiate peace quickly.
- Trump labels the Ukrainian president a “dictator” and blames Kyiv for the war.
- Top US and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
- Trump claims Europe benefits more from the war and alleges that half of US funds sent to Ukraine are “missing.”
- Putin welcomes meeting with Trump and lauds recent US-Russia talks in Riyadh.
- Trump’s outreach to Russia sparks concerns in Ukraine’s European allies.
MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia “absolutely” agrees with the US administration after President Donald Trump urged Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to “move fast” to end the conflict.
Trump has made repeated diplomatic overtures to the Kremlin, reaching out to Vladimir Putin while throwing insults at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In a post on Wednesday, Trump called Zelensky a “dictator” while echoing the Kremlin on several issues linked to the conflict, deepening a rift that has triggered alarm in Europe.
“They (the Trump administration) talk about the need to establish peace as soon as possible and do it through negotiations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
“We have also already mentioned that this position is more favourable to us than the previous administration and that here we absolutely agree with the American administration,” Peskov said.
Peskov said the two sides had agreed to resume dialogue on all issues, including prisoner exchanges after officials from the two countries held talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
“It was decided to start resuming Russian-American dialogue on all parameters,” Peskov said.
On Wednesday, Trump stated in a social media post that Zelensky wanted to “keep the gravy train” of foreign aid running, a day after he blamed Ukraine for starting the war.
ALSO READ: Ukraine War a Waste of US Money and Ukrainian Lives: Trump
“Zelensky better move fast, or he is not going to have a country left,” Trump wrote.
It’s been just under a week since Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a lengthy phone conversation.
Russia’s ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin praised the Trump administration’s approach.
“For the first time, we have noticed that they [the US] are not simply saying that this is Russian propaganda and disinformation. They have listened and they hear what we’re saying,” he said as quoted by BBC News.
“I think the Russians want to see the war end, I really do. But I think they have the cards a little bit because they’ve taken a lot of territory. So they have the cards,” Trump told BBC News on Air Force One.
Trump on Wednesday described the war in Ukraine as a waste of money and innocent lives.
Earlier the Ukrainian president said that the United States President has succumbed to Russian-made disinformation.
Trump said on Wednesday the United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back. “Why didn’t Sleepy Joe Biden demand Equalisation, in that this War is far more important to Europe than it is to us,” Trump said.
ALSO READ: Zelensky Says Trump Falling to Russian Disinformation
“On top of this, Zelensky admits that half of the money we sent him is “MISSING.” He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden like a fiddle,” he noted.
On Tuesday, Trump suggested that Kyiv was to blame for the war, which enters its fourth-year next week, as talks between top American and Russian diplomats in Saudi Arabia sidelined Ukraine and its European supporters.
Earlier Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would like to meet with President Donald Trump. He also lauded the talks between senior Russian and US officials in Riyadh.
