At a joint press conference with British Labour leader Keir Starmer, Donald Trump was keeping it real. As he said himself, “Putin has disappointed me.” Trump’s frustration is that he was not able to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. As a candidate, he set ambitious goals of doing so early in his administration.
During the press conference, Trump emphasized the human cost of the ongoing conflict, stating, “He’s killing many people, and he’s losing more people than he’s killing. The Russian soldiers are being killed at a higher rate than the Ukrainian soldiers.” This condemnation follows a remarkable turn of events on the battlefield, as Ukrainian forces have largely succeeded in their recent counter offensives against Russian advances.
In April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a visionary declaration. He shared that his armed forces have managed to reclaim much of the ground that Russia had taken over the course of this summer. Zelenskyy welcomed the operation, the first of its kind, as an “important success.” He insisted that Ukrainian forces had already liberated a total of 160 square kilometers around Dobropillia, an eastern coalmine town.
In a national address last week, Zelenskyy reported with pride that Ukrainian forces had retaken 170 square kilometers of territory. This critical region has not been officially protected. He announced that his army is “showing success” in the current military action in the eastern Donetsk area. According to some reports, Russia has incurred thousands of losses there.
Despite the Ukrainian advancements, challenges remain. On Thursday, a Russian airstrike in the eastern Donetsk region town of Kostiantynivka killed at least five people and injured 12. As of early 2023, Ukraine has officially accused Russia of illegally deporting or otherwise forcibly displacing over 19,500 children to Russia and Belarus. All these actions are direct violations of the Geneva Conventions.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova fired back at U.S. critics, accusing Trump of making up lies. She maintained that those comments were made on a lot of bad data. Putin bragged that there are more than 700,000 Russian troops now in Ukraine’s front line. This statement would mark a major further escalation in military commitment.
As for Trump’s remarks on Moscow, they should play especially well among British officials. They are seeking to further corner the Russian president on the world stage with this historic second of state visit.