Russia says it has detected a shift by US President-elect Donald Trump and his team towards acknowledging the "realities" on the ground in Ukraine, and sees it as a welcome sign as it prepares to study a plan to end the war. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the announcement at a press conference.
"Everything that has been discussed over the past year has several aspects. First of all, the fact that some people have started mentioning new realities on the ground more often, this fact deserves to be welcomed. Trump mentioned in a long interview the consequences of a conflict as a result of Kiev's forced withdrawal towards NATO, contrary to the agreements that had been reached between Russia and the US," said Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister.
Trump last week acknowledged Moscow's long-standing opposition to Ukraine's ambition to join NATO, something he said meant "Russia has someone on their doorstep, and I can understand their feeling about that." Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine after nearly three years of war and says any deal to end the conflict must take that into account. In September 2022, it declared four regions of Ukraine it only partially controls as part of its territory, in a move overwhelmingly condemned by the United Nations General Assembly as an "attempted illegal annexation."
Meanwhile, the Russian army is leveling entire cities in Ukraine with thousands of bombs that are similar to cruise missiles. The converted aerial bombs weigh up to 3,000 kilograms, German media report. Civilians in many parts of the country are defenseless against the weapon, international media report.
The Russian Defense Ministry claims that its troops have taken control of two more villages in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, partially occupied by Kremlin soldiers, the Interfax news agency reported. (A2 Televizion)
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