Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said today that European leaders had apparently planted harmful ideas in US President Donald Trump at this week's G7 summit, but that the US leader is a strong politician who sticks to his own opinion, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
Trump said after what he said was a "very good" meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that Russia should make peace with Ukraine - comments that have sparked cautious optimism among G7 leaders that a peace deal can be reached.
Ushakov said today that he believes Trump was misinformed about the situation in Ukraine at the G7 summit and that Moscow is still expecting a visit by the US president's envoys - Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, although no date has yet been set for that.
"One had assumed that Trump had been instilled with harmful ideas. We understand that the Europeans are exerting adverse influence in this case," the Kremlin adviser told Russian state television on the sidelines of the Russia-ASEAN summit.
He said the Europeans were guided by "the mistaken assumption that the situation on the battlefield was supposedly changing in Ukraine's favor". Such assumptions are categorically false, the Kremlin adviser noted, quoted by TASS.
"From this point of view, they are trying to manipulate Trump so that he takes a clearer pro-Ukrainian position", Ushakov said, adding: "Trump is a strong politician who sticks to his own opinion. He comments on some things, and on others he seems to refrain. We will see how his position will develop further".
Zelensky and his European allies presented to Trump their views that Ukraine's combat capabilities have significantly improved, thanks to the ability to strike deep into Russian territory - something Ushakov categorically rejected, Reuters reports.