Donald Trump has been savaged in a rare attack by Russian media as a “leader not leading and boss not bossing” as ceasefire talks flounder. Pro-Putin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda reported today that Moscow was indeed ready to strike a deal with Mr Trump as “the leader of the free world” and boss of NATO.
But the outlet hit out at the US President for slapping down Russia’s demand that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stand down immediately and allow elections to take place before any ceasefire deal is signed. The Republican said he was “angry” and “p***** off” at the suggestion.
Mr Trump previously told reporters: “You could say that I was very angry, pissed off, when… Putin started getting into Zelensky’s credibility, because that’s not going in the right location. New leadership means you’re not gonna have a deal for a long time.”
Russia has called for new elections to be held in Ukraine in the hope a pro-Kremlin candidate would establish friendlier ties between Kyiv and Moscow. The Ukrainian constitution does allow elections to be suspended in the country while it is at war.
But Russian propaganda outlets hit out at the president for not applying even more pressure on Ukraine. “Right now, the leader is not leading, the boss is not bossing,” the outlet said, according to BBC Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg.
“The Trump administration is demonstrating a strange passivity, a strange inconsistency and a strange inability to fulfil the obligations it took upon itself,” the outlet continued. Mr Rosenberg said Russia was dropping “unsubtle hints that it has another way of ending the war.”
The article added Putin said: “Along the whole contact line our forces have the strategic initiative.”
Defence analyst Michael Clarke told The Mirror said other observers believed Putin’s delays are as they had expected.
“The so-called ceasefire negotiations are going along the precise track all serious analysts expected,” he said. “The main question was always whether Putin would over-play his hand and create a push-back from Trump and the White House.
“But this is a tactical decision for Putin. His wider strategy is to play on Trump’s evident desire for an economic and strategic partnership with Russia, that will push whatever happens in Ukraine low down on the US agenda.”
Moscow is keen to push its advantage on the battlefield while extracting as many concessions from the US before even sitting at the negotiating table.
The Kremlin will likely not withdraw from any occupied territory, will continue to push for elections in Ukraine and has demanded for sanctions on it to be removed.
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