Trump seen as only leader addressing Ukraine conflict roots

It's important to note that much of the information provided by Russian media or government representatives can be seen as propaganda. These reports are part of the information warfare conducted by the Russian Federation.

    
• In his interview with CBS, Sergey Lavrov stressed that Donald Trump is the only leader who acknowledges the need to address the root causes of the war in Ukraine.
• Lavrov mentioned that talks with the USA are moving towards an agreement, but the details still need refinement.
• Russia insists that its attacks in Ukraine are exclusively aimed at military targets, despite Trump's criticism.

In his interview with CBS (the full interview will be published on Sunday—the editor's note), Sergey Lavrov highlighted that Trump identifies the need to address the fundamental causes of the conflict in Ukraine. "President Trump is probably the only leader on Earth who recognizes the need to address the root causes of this situation. This was a mistake by the Biden administration, and he wants to rectify this," Lavrov said.

Lavrov believes one of the key mistakes was "drawing Ukraine into NATO," which he attributes as an error by the Biden administration. He noted that Trump wants to correct these mistakes, which he views as essential for reaching an agreement.

Lavrov referred to President Trump's statement on Wednesday about "having an agreement with Russia."

"Well, the President of the United States believes — and I think rightly so — that we are moving in the right direction," Lavrov said. "The statement by the (US) president (Donald Trump) mentions a deal, and we are ready to reach a deal, but there are still some specific points -- elements of this deal which need to be fine-tuned." He added that he cannot disclose the details involved but noted that he is "busy with this exact process."

It is known, however, that the agreement involves handing over Crimea to Russia, a proposal that Zelensky has already rejected.

In response to Trump's criticism of the bombing of Kyiv, Lavrov attempted to maintain that Russia is only targeting military objectives. Even though Trump described these actions as "unnecessary," Lavrov continued to argue that Russia has the right to attack facilities used by the Ukrainian military.