US President Donald Trump has called russia the aggressor in the war against Ukraine for the first time, once again demonstrating a shift towards a tougher stance on Moscow.
This was reported by Politico.
"This week, 8,000 soldiers from both countries were killed. Russia has a little more, but when you are the aggressor, you lose more," Trump told reporters on Sunday.
Trump has previously refused to condemn Moscow for the invasion, and in February his administration, along with russia and North Korea, rejected a UN resolution that supported Ukraine's territorial integrity and condemned russia. The US also opposed a G7 statement that called russia the aggressor in February. Trump blamed Ukraine for the war, saying in April: "You can't start a war against someone who is 20 times bigger than you and then expect people to give you a few missiles."
The publication noted that Trump's position on the Kremlin changed over the summer, and his administration began to put increasing pressure on putin, as he blocked Trump's efforts to organize direct peace talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"I stopped seven wars and I thought this one would be easy for me, but it turned out to be difficult. I think I'm going to have to negotiate all the negotiations. They [Zelenskyy and putin] hate each other. They hate each other so much that they can't breathe," the US President said.
Since Trump's tougher stance has not forced putin to sit down at the negotiating table with Zelenskyy, the US administration is facing increasing calls to impose tougher sanctions on russia. On Sunday, Trump said he planned to do so, but only after Europe stops buying russian oil and tightens its own sanctions regime.
Although Trump has called European countries his "friends," they still "buy oil from russia. I don't want them to buy oil. And the sanctions they're imposing aren't tough enough."
Hungary and Slovakia are the largest buyers of russian energy in the EU and have opposed the European Commission's efforts to phase it out.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told POLITICO that the U.S. wants to "cancel all of russia's gas," saying, "The more we can limit russia's ability to finance this murderous war, the better it is for all of us."
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, U.S. President Donald Trump said that the restrictions that European Union countries have imposed on the aggressor country of russia are too weak. He called on allies to increase pressure on Moscow and act more decisively.
Meanwhile, Trump announced the launch of an investigation into billionaire George Soros and his network of organizations.
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