Russia says no choice but war after Trump U-turn on Ukraine

Kremlin besides says US-Russia rapprochement yields “close to zero” results, arsenic fears turn successful Europe of Ukraine spillover.

The Kremlin has announced it has “no alternative” but to proceed waging war, arsenic it pushed backmost connected United States President Donald Trump’s sudden oversea chnage towards Ukraine that saw him marque Russia a “paper tiger”.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov deed backmost astatine Trump’s assertion that Ukraine could efficaciously triumph the war, declaring Wednesday that Russia would beryllium continuing its violative connected Ukraine “to guarantee our interests and execute the goals”.

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“We are doing this for some the contiguous and the aboriginal of our country. For galore generations to come. Therefore, we person nary alternative,” helium said successful a vigor interrogation with Russia’s RBC vigor station.

Tuesday had seen Trump propulsion his value down Ukraine aft a gathering with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy connected the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, posting connected societal media that the state was “in a presumption to combat and WIN each of Ukraine backmost successful its archetypal form”.

Signalling his rapprochement with Russia was over, the US president said: “Russia has been warring aimlessly for 3 and a fractional years a War that should person taken a Real Military Power little than a week to win”.

Russia’s warfare was making it look similar a “paper tiger” with a failing economy, helium said.

On Wednesday, Peskov pushed backmost against Trump’s “paper tiger” remark, insisting Russia was much of a “bear”. Though helium conceded the economy, which is slowing aft 3 years of accelerated maturation and with stubborn inflation, was facing immoderate headwinds.

He said it was incorrect to deliberation that Ukraine could recapture onshore taken by Moscow’s army. “The thought that Ukraine tin recapture thing is, from our constituent of view, mistaken,” helium said.

The Kremlin spokesperson besides poured scorn connected Trump’s attempted rapprochement, which saw him invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to a summit successful Alaska past month, saying it had yielded “close to zero” results.

Europe connected precocious alert

After the Alaska acme and meetings with Zelenskyy and salient European leaders at the White House, Trump had announced helium was arranging for nonstop talks between leaders.

But Putin hasn’t shown immoderate involvement successful gathering with Zelenskyy, and Moscow has lone intensified its bombardment of Ukraine, often targeting civilians successful residential areas, portion committing a bid of provocative violations of eastbound European airspace.

Last week, Estonia said 3 Russian combatant jets violated its airspace, not agelong aft 20 Russian drones entered Poland’s airspace, raising fears among Europe’s NATO countries of a spillover from the Ukraine war.

On Tuesday, NATO had warned Russia astir its actions, reminding the state of its “ironclad” adherence to Article 5 of the alliance’s founding treaty, which “commits each subordinate states to communal defence successful the lawsuit of an onslaught connected immoderate 1 of them”.

On Wednesday, Spain’s Defence Ministry said a subject pitchy with Defence Minister Margarita Robles onboard suffered a GPS “disturbance” that greeting portion flying adjacent Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave connected its mode to Lithuania.

No further details were reported.

The incidental follows a akin lawsuit astatine the extremity of past month, which saw the GPS strategy of a level carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen jammed portion en way to Bulgaria.

An EU spokesperson said astatine the clip that Bulgarian authorities suspected the incidental was owed to interference by Russia.

Ukraine targets lipid and state infrastructure

On Wednesday, Ukraine carried retired an overnight drone onslaught connected the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat petrochemical works successful cardinal Russia’s Bashkortostan region, according to the determination governor.

The strike, which sparked a fire, was the 2nd specified onslaught connected a large concern installation successful the Russian portion successful a week. Last week, Ukraine attacked the same complex, controlled by vigor elephantine Gazprom.

Kyiv has intensified drone attacks connected Russia’s immense lipid and state infrastructure successful the past weeks, targeting refineries and export-bound pipelines, as peace talks with Moscow founder.