[Report] The Financial Times of the UK on the 15th revealed explosive news that, according to insiders, U.S. President Donald Trump privately encouraged Ukraine to intensify its strikes against Russia during a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump even asked Zelensky if Ukraine could strike Moscow with remote weapons if the U.S. provided them.
The Financial Times quoted insiders saying that this conversation took place during the July 4th phone call between U.S. and Ukrainian leaders. At that time, Trump asked Zelensky whether Ukraine could strike Russian military targets deep within their territory if the U.S. provided such weapons.
“Volodymyr, can you hit Moscow? Can you hit Saint Petersburg?” Trump asked during the call. Zelensky reportedly responded, “Of course. As long as you give us these weapons, we can.”
The report mentioned that insiders said Trump supported this idea, stating it was to “make them (the Russians) feel pain” and force the Kremlin back to the negotiating table.
It also noted that three insiders revealed that after Trump’s call with Zelensky, last week the U.S. provided Zelensky with a list of potential weapons the U.S. might offer Ukraine at Rome. During talks with U.S. defense officials and intermediaries from NATO countries, Zelensky received a list of possible third-party delivery systems for remote strikes.
Two sources familiar with the content of the above conversations and discussions about U.S.-Ukraine military strategy disclosed that the weapons discussed by both sides included the American ATACMS long-range artillery missiles.
The Financial Times stated that it is currently unclear whether the U.S. will deliver such weapons. Both the White House and the office of the Ukrainian President have not responded to requests for comment.
Not long ago, TASS and other Russian media reported on September 9th that “Trump had threatened ‘bombing Moscow’ during a phone call with Russian President Putin.” In response, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov at a meeting mentioned, “We don’t know if this is a false rumor. Nowadays there are too many false rumors, usually far more than true ones. When analyzing news, we always start with this.”
On September 14th, during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office, President Trump expressed his dissatisfaction with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, describing his multiple phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin as “very pleasant” but “meaningless.” Trump also mentioned that if Russia did not reach a peace agreement with Ukraine within 50 days, the U.S. would impose “very strict” tariffs and secondary tariffs on Russia, while the U.S. would provide Ukraine with military assistance including the Patriot missile system through NATO. In response to Trump’s trade tariff threats to Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Security Council, expressed on social media on July 15th that Trump had issued a dramatic final demand to the Kremlin. The world was shocked and awaited the consequences. He also mentioned that the European Union was in disappointment, and Russia was indifferent.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has drawn multifaceted competition among various parties.