Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov told state TV channel Russia-1 that the Russian government believes President Trump is not getting properly briefed on what is really happening in the Russia-Ukraine war. “Trump says a lot of things. Naturally, we read and monitor all of this. But in many ways, we have come to the conclusion that Trump is not sufficiently informed about what is really happening in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation,” Ushakov stated.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made a similar point, in a press conference after his May 27 meeting with Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. According to a transcript of the press conference, Lavrov made a pointed comment about how unnamed governments are being mis-briefed. “The fact that those whose job consists of briefing their leaders about what happens with the Ukraine crisis have been failing to report the truth means that they either do not want to know this truth or are seeking to conceal it.”
Lavrov then dismissed various efforts to drive a wedge between Presidents Putin and Trump. “As for the rumors on the United States asking to replace Russia’s negotiator, we have an adequate conversation with the United States, unlike what we had under Joe Biden, but this time is gone. If the United States wants to send us a message, it knows how to do it without humiliating itself by spreading rumors.”
