The Russian president also did not rule out the deprivation of cities to Ukrainian cities.
Trump says Putin will respond to Ukraine’s attack after calling
President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin over an hour’s phone call.
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed at the economic forum that “all Ukraine” belongs to his country, despite Russia controlling only one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory.
He made a comment at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 20th. It also showed that Russian forces would not “exclude” the North Smee region, which has been rapidly advancing in recent weeks. The regional capital of 250,000 people is located just a few miles from the Russian border.
“Where the feet of Russian soldiers belong to us,” Putin said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andri Sibiha condemned Putin’s remarks.
“Putin’s ironic statement shows a complete disdain for the US peace effort,” he wrote to X.
The round-trip comes from nearly two weeks when Russia launched one of the biggest air force attacks on Kiev, the capital of Ukrainians, in a war of more than three years.
Contribution: Reuters
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA Today. You can contact him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @Zachschermele and follow Bluesky at @Zachschermele.bsky.social.
