After the heavy strikes on Russian airbases! Vladimir Putin plays him a victim in front of Donald Trump

Only ten days have passed since the US president called Vladimir Putin 'crazy' after Russia's massive attacks on Ukraine. After the attack on Russian airbases by the Ukrainian SBU, the roles were reversed. And the President of the Russian Federation realizes that in this way he can regain Washington's favor, writes Sky News.

Yesterday, the two leaders had a nearly two-hour phone conversation. The Kremlin announced that the conversation between Putin and Trump was focused on Ukrainian attacks “on Russian civilians“. Before the conversation, the Russian dictator accused the Ukrainian government of committing a “terrorist act“, commenting on the attacks on Russian facilities.

According to Sky News, Putin was referring to the explosion on Saturday on a highway bridge in the Bryansk region, in which seven people died and dozens were injured after part of a passenger train derailed as a result of the explosion.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for this, but the Russian Federation blames Ukraine for it.

“The current Kiev regime does not need peace at all. What is there to talk about? How can we negotiate with those who rely on terror?“, Putin announced yesterday.

The publication notes that the Russian president's words are the same messages that Ukraine has been sending to Russia for the past three years. But now the Kremlin has fully shifted into victim mode.

Sky News Russia correspondent Ivor Bennett stresses that the aim of such tactics is to turn the tables on Russia, to portray itself as the victim and to convince Trump that Russia has the right to respond to the drone attack on its long-range bombers.

"This tactic may have worked," Bennett believes.

"President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he would be forced to respond to the recent attack on the airports," Trump wrote on social media after the end of his phone call with the Russian president.

The Sky News correspondent added:

"Did he (Trump) try to dissuade Putin from responding? We don't know, but apparently not." Most likely, Trump himself announced Russia's response. And although Putin discussed the drone strike with Trump, he has not yet commented on it publicly - for four days now. Russia wants to be perceived as a victim, but does not want to look weak, so such an awkward episode does not make the front pages of newspapers.“

Trump's reaction to the strikes on Russian airfields and the Crimean bridge

Earlier, military expert Pavlo Narozhnyi suggested why Trump is silent about Ukraine's strikes on Russian airfields and the Crimean bridge. According to him, thanks to such a defeat, the Ukrainian side has proven its ability to independently deliver powerful strikes deep into the enemy's rear, without coordinating with the actions of its allies, which is why the US president has not yet commented on this situation.

At the same time, White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt answered whether Trump approves of the SBU's operation "Cobweb". She stressed that only the US president himself can comment on this.

"And I will add: the president does not want this war to drag on. He wants the fighting to stop, the people to stop dying, and the conflict to be resolved at the negotiating table. The reason he is so deeply involved and devoting so much time and effort to this issue is because he cannot stand by and watch people die," she concluded.