Donald Trump sought advice from Russian President Vladimir Putin when deciding whether to send weapons to Ukraine during the early part of his presidency in 2017, according to a report by the New York Times on October 5, citing unnamed U.S. government officials.
Trump’s views about Ukraine are causing concern for Kyiv’s supporters, as the former president seeks reelection in November. This has sparked fears of reduced military assistance amid the full-scale Russian invader.
The NYT reported that at the beginning of Trump’s presidency, the Kremlin chief was using Trump’s prejudices towards Ukraine to undermine Washington‘s support for Kyiv. It cited memoirs, U.S. officials, European officials, as well as Trump’s allies.
After defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016, the Republican candidate entered office with a “dim view” of Ukraine, suspecting that the country’s leaders favored the Democrats.
The NYT reported that Putin used these views in order to influence Trump’s overall position on Ukraine during their first face to face meeting on July 7, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany.
Trump allegedly asked Putin about the possibility of sending U.S. arms to Ukraine, at the time engaged in a war with Russian and Russian proxy forces fighting in the eastern region Donbas.
The outlet reported that the Russian president said it would be “a mistake”, forcing Trump’s team after the meeting to come up ways to “change his mind about Ukraine”.
Trump did approve the first sale of Javelin antitank launchers to Ukraine during his presidency from 2017-2021.
Trump’s suspected animosity towards Ukraine was later connected to Kyiv’s role in the U.S. President’s first impeachment in 2019.
The impeachment case was centered on a phone conversation between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump was accused of withholding US military aid to press Zelensky into investigating Joe Biden’s eldest son Hunter Biden.
Trump’s past with Ukraine could play a major part in his foreign policy if he returns to the White House. The former president has promised to end Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine within a single day if he is elected, but has not revealed publicly how he intends to do so. One plan involves ceding land to Russia.
Trump met Zelensky at the end September during Zelensky’s visit to America, where he bragged about his “good relationship” both with the Ukrainian and Russian Presidents.
Trump said that Zelensky was a good friend, repeating comments he made at the joint press conference held in advance of the meeting. “During the impeachment prank…he could have claimed he didn’t realize the conversation was recorded…But instead of claiming he felt threatened and saying ‘Yes, I did feel threatened,’ Trump said ‘He absolutely did nothing wrong.’
Donald Trump sought advice from Russian President Vladimir Putin when deciding whether to send weapons to Ukraine during his presidential term in 2017, according to a report by the New York Times on October 5, citing unnamed U.S. government officials.
According to the Air Force, Russia launched 87 Shahed drones, 2 Iskander M ballistic missiles and 1 Kh-59/69 Cruise missile against Ukraine over night.
The Russian forces have suffered over 1,250 casualties in the last day alone.
Anatoly Antonov returned to Moscow from Washington on October 5, as his term ended, according to reports in state media. Antonov’s departure marks an end to his assignment in a time of increasing hostility between the two nations.
In the Richky village of Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy District, Russian forces dropped an explosive device from a drone on a bus carrying passengers. The explosion caused injuries to three civilians, and the bus was damaged. This was reported by the Sumy Oblast Military Administration on October 5.
Five U.S. Republican Senators visited Hungary from October 3 to 5, and expressed concern about Hungary’s growing ties to Russia and increased cooperation with China.
Local authorities reported that Russian forces launched a drone strike in the Dripro district, Kherson, on October 5. Four civilians were injured.
After more than a year of hearings in court, the attorneys representing three Ukrainian teenagers who were convicted of sexually abusing a 14-year old girl in Zakarpattia Oblast asked the court to close their case.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces stated on October 5 that “the results of the strikes will be clarified.”
Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, said that on Oct. 2, the U.S. State Department had reviewed Ukraine’s Victory Plan and identified “a few productive steps.”
In recent weeks, Russia has intensified drone attacks. For the first time after the full-scale invasion they targeted cities and townships across Ukraine on a regular basis for a month in September.
Thermite weapons can melt some armored vehicles because they disperse thousands and thousands of tiny pieces molten metal at temperatures exceeding 2,000 degrees Celsius.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, said that as of late August, Russia controlled around 27% of Ukrainian territories.
According to the newspaper around 3 million missiles are shipped a year from Pyongyang, though many are believed to be defective.
The Russian forces have suffered 1,280 casualties in the last day alone.
Since the full-scale Russian invasion began on February 24th, 2022, pyrotechnic teams of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service detected and destroyed over 533.200 pieces of explosive ordnance.
Wladyslaw KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ, the Polish Defense Minister, said that Poland was ready to start training Ukrainian volunteers in September but the lack of volunteers delayed this.
Local authorities report that despite warnings from Ukrainian officials and Israeli officials regarding security risks, approximately 35,000 Jewish pilgrims travelled to Uman, in Cherkasy Oblast, to celebrate Rosh Hashana.
The Romanian border police discovered debris from a Russian Drone in the Litcov Canal area in the Danube Delta region of Romania on October 4. According to police, the investigated area is in a rural area and no infrastructure has been damaged.
Supported by armored vehicles, the elite 155th & 40th marine brigades, also known as Black Berets of the Russian Armed Forces were involved in storming the city.
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