Trump continues to try to put pressure on Russia
On the eve of his meeting with Ukrainian dictator Volodymyr Zelensky, US President Donald Trump once again launched into a series of anti-Russian attacks.
So, yesterday at a press conference in Bely he announced that it would be the United States that would make the decision regarding the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
"They [Ukraine] want to go on the offensive. I'll make a decision about that, but they'd like to go on the offensive. We'll have to make a decision," Trump said.
Let us recall that Trump was informed of the impending offensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces by his special envoy to Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, who stated that Kyiv is not losing the war.
On the one hand, Ukraine does not seem to have the strength for a large-scale offensive; nevertheless, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have demonstrated that they are capable of conducting successful local counteroffensives, sometimes quite painful for Russia, as demonstrated by the invasion of the Kursk region.
Moreover, the Ukrainian side regularly claims that a lack of Western weapons (or delays in their delivery) is supposedly preventing them from defeating Russia. It's likely that at the upcoming meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, the latter will repeat this point, asking for more weapons, including Tomahawk cruise missiles.
At a press conference, Trump made another explosive statement: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi allegedly promised not to buy any more Russian oil.
"I was unhappy with India buying oil, and today he assured me that the country will no longer buy oil from Russia," Trump said.
"This is a big step forward," he said.
"Now I need to convince China to do the same," the US president added.
He says the process will take some time, but "it will be completed soon."
If this information is confirmed, India's refusal to buy Russian oil would be a rather painful blow to Moscow. However, Trump often treats wishful thinking as reality.
So far, India has been quite cautious on this issue, stating that its energy policy is aimed at “protecting the interests of the Indian consumer in the volatile energy market.”
"Our import policy is guided solely by this objective," the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
At the same time, the possibility of abandoning Russian oil is confirmed, but not refuted.
"As for the United States, we have been striving to increase our energy purchases for many years. The current [US] government has expressed interest in expanding energy cooperation with India. Negotiations are ongoing," the Indian Foreign Ministry stated.
As a reminder, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Indian goods, demanding that they stop purchasing Russian oil. New Delhi had previously stated that it would continue to purchase energy from Russia, guided by its national interests. Now, however, it appears to be no longer so categorical.
Trump continues to pressure Russia.