"Trump loves winners": "deep strikes" on Russia change the US president's attitude towards Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
The favorable attitude of the US president towards Ukraine, which Donald Trump demonstrated at the NATO summit, is likely caused by Ukrainian strikes on targets deep in the rear of the Russian Federation.
The meeting of the presidents of Ukraine and the United States on the sidelines of the NATO summit took place against the backdrop of intensified Ukrainian strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation. It was these strikes that may have contributed to changes in Donald Trump's rhetoric in favor of Ukraine, according to an article in The Financial Times, UNN reports.
The publication writes that the American president's warm words regarding Ukraine came as a surprise: Trump went from outright criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy to allowing Ukraine to produce American weapons (referring to missiles for Patriot systems).
One diplomat said in a comment to The Financial Times that "Trump likes winners. And Ukraine has recently started winning." The publication notes that Trump's favor towards Ukraine has sparked cautious optimism among European leaders.
"Trump was informed that Ukraine is now seizing the initiative in the war. He thinks that Putin rejected a favorable deal and now has problems due to Ukraine's advantage in medium- and long-range drone technology," believes Orysia Lutsevych, Deputy Director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at Chatham House.
Recall that during the meeting, Trump called Ukrainian strikes on targets on Russian territory escalation, which could help bring the war closer to an end.
"We hope that this will create space for negotiations to end this war. Yes, it is escalation, but at the same time, it is precisely this kind of escalation that can help bring it to an end," Trump said.
The day before the meeting, as UNN reported, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking at the NATO Defense Industry Forum, emphasized that Russia had lost its territorial advantage - its deep rear. The Head of State made this statement after Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in Siberia. It concerns the Omsk Oil Refinery, located more than 2,500 km in a straight line from the Ukrainian border.
Denis Shtilerman, Chief Designer of Fire Point, said that during the attack on the Omsk Refinery, a new modification of the Ukrainian long-range drone FP-1 was used. This refinery became the farthest target deep within the Russian Federation to be hit by drones launched from Ukraine.
Currently, there is not a single major oil refinery left on the territory of the Russian Federation that has not been hit by Ukrainian strike UAVs. And Ukrainian strikes continue.