The Kremlin on Wednesday flatly rejected what Donald Trump said was the rationale behind his rhetorical U-turn on the war in Ukraine, saying it appeared that the U.S. president had been influenced by Ukraine’s leader and was mistaken.

In an abrupt shift in Ukraine’s favour, Trump said on Tuesday after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that he believed that Kyiv could recapture all of its land taken by Russia – which controls around one-fifth of the country – and that it should act now, with Moscow facing economic problems.

The Trump flip-flop was seen by some Russian nationalists as a sign he was washing his hands of the war in Ukraine after his unsuccessful attempts to broker a quick peace deal, noting he had not promised any more U.S. help to Kyiv but had rather placed th

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