The Russian delegation visiting the United States has informed the American side about today's meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, BNR reported.
This was announced by the head of the delegation, Kirill Dmitriev, who is the special representative of the Russian President for investment and economic cooperation with foreign partners.
During the meeting, Gerasimov reported to Putin that 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers were surrounded in the Kupyansk region of the Kharkiv region, and 5,500 in the Pokrovsk region of the Donetsk region. Gerasimov also announced a successful test of the "Burevestnik" - a nuclear-powered cruise missile with an unlimited range of nuclear warheads.
According to Dmitriev, the Americans were informed that the solution to the Ukrainian conflict is possible only by eradicating the root causes of it. Also, that the Russian economy is in very good shape, and the ruble has strengthened against the dollar.
Meanwhile, in an interview with CBS News, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant sharply criticized Dmitriev, calling him a "Russian propagandist" and disagreed with his thesis that the new US sanctions will not affect the Russian economy, but will only increase fuel prices, including at gas stations in the United States:
"We have already seen that India has completely stopped buying Russian oil. Many Chinese refineries have also stopped. Are you really going to publish what a Russian propagandist says? What else can he say? That everything is terrible and Putin will sit at the negotiating table?? Of course, the Russian economy is a war economy. Growth is around 0. I think inflation is over 20%. Everything we do is aimed at getting Putin to the negotiating table. Oil fuels the Russian war machine and I think we can significantly limit the profits from it".