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Vladimir Putin said he believed Donald Trump was sincere about wanting to end the war in Ukraine, but expressed ignorance about the former US president’s plan.
“The fact that Mr Trump, as a presidential candidate, declares that he is ready and wants to stop the war in Ukraine, we take this completely seriously,” the Russian president said at a news conference in Kazakhstan yesterday.
“I am not, of course, familiar with possible proposals for how he plans to do this. This is the key question. But I have no doubt that he means it sincerely, and we support it,” he said when asked about the Republican presidential candidate’s statement.
At a CNN town hall in May last year, Mr Trump had said: “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done. I’ll have that done in 24 hours.”
As the war in Ukraine grinds on, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces were carrying out drills involving mobile nuclear missile launchers, the Interfax news agency reported this morning.
Russia broke international law by jailing reporter, UN experts say
Putin says he thinks Trump is sincere about ending Ukraine war
Vladimir Putin said he believed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was sincere about wanting to end the war in Ukraine, but expressed ignorance about the former US president’s plan.
“The fact that Mr Trump, as a presidential candidate, declares that he is ready and wants to stop the war in Ukraine, we take this completely seriously,” the Russian president said at a news conference in Kazakhstan.
“I am not, of course, familiar with possible proposals for how he plans to do this. This is the key question. But I have no doubt that he means it sincerely, and we support it” he said when asked about Mr Trump’s statement.
The Washington Post reported in April that Trump had privately spoken about allowing Russia to keep Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, and the Donbas area, which Russian forces partially control, in return for peace, something that Trump’s campaign has not confirmed.
Russia holds drills involving mobile nuclear missile launchers – report
Russia’s defence ministry has said its forces are carrying out drills involving mobile nuclear missile launchers, the Interfax news agency reported this morning.
Yars missile launcher crews from two units are set to move over 100 kilometres and practice camouflage and deployment, it said, with more crews joining drills in the future.
Russian attacks kill two and wound 26 in Ukraine
Russian strikes killed two people and wounded 26 in Ukrainian regions stretching from the south to the east and northeast, local authorities said yesterday.
A missile strike in southern Odesa region killed a woman, injured seven people and damaged port infrastructure, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram.
In northeastern Kharkiv region, a second woman was killed and a man wounded in a strike by a Russian guided bomb on the village of Ruska Lozova, according to regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.
Nine others, including four children, were wounded in a drone attack and shelling in the town of Novohrodivka, in the frontline Donetsk region, governor Vadym Filashkin said.
Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Serhiy Lysak reported seven wounded in the southern town of Nikopol. He had said earlier that Russian forces had attacked areas near Nikopol with drones and artillery on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
Russia claims 190,000 troops join this year
Around 190,000 recruits have signed contracts to join the Russian military so far this year, the state-run RIA news agency has quoted former president Dmitry Medvedev as saying.
Mr Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said the current average recruitment rate was about 1,000 people a day.
Russia is encouraging people to sign up for the war in Ukraine by paying them well above average wages.
President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has no need to enforce a new round of compulsory mobilisation because so many men are signing up on voluntary contracts.
Putin says he would prefer Biden to Trump
Russian president Vladimir Putin has said his preference for Joe Biden as the next US president remained unchanged.
Asked by a state television reporter whether Mr Biden or Mr Trump was better, and whether his publicly stated preference for Mr Biden had changed after the debate, Mr Putin said: “Nothing has changed.”
“Did we not know what could come? We knew,” he added.
Zelensky sends American Independence Day message
Wishing Americans a happy 4 July, he wrote: “We understand what independence means to you, Americans, and you can see that it means the same thing to us, Ukrainians…
“True independence is always the result of won battles, and freedom must be reinforced with victories every time tyranny attempts to destroy it.
“Different generations of Americans and Ukrainians have witnessed this firsthand, and it is critical that current generations pass on a sense of confident independence and guaranteed freedom to their children and grandchildren.”
In pictures: A town destroyed
Chasiv Yar was left in ruins even before Ukrainian troops retreated:
Symbols of tradition, hope and healing
Flowers have taken on extra significance in Ukraine since the war began. In case you missed it:
Russian missile kills one person and injures seven in Odesa
A Russian missile attack killed one person, injured seven and damaged port infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, the regional governor has said.
Oleh Kiper did not specify exactly where the strike occurred but he said port facilities and administrative and other buildings were damaged.
Source: independent.co.uk
