After the political disappointment, but apparently not disappointment on the human side, of the conversation with Putin, Donald Trump spoke for 40 minutes with Volodymir Zelelnsky. The Ukrainian president revealed the details of the conversation with Trump: they discussed the strengthening of air defense and joint production of weapons.
The president reported that in a conversation with Donald Trump, they discussed Russian strikes, the situation at the front and the prospects of strengthening the Ukrainian air defense system. According to Zelensky, Trump is “well informed” and expressed his willingness to continue the dialogue at the level of representatives of the two sides. The parties also touched on issues related to the defense industry, in particular the possibility of joint production of drones and other systems. Zelensky stressed the importance of direct projects with the United States, including investments and purchases. In addition, the diplomatic situation and coordination of actions with American and foreign partners were discussed.
The nation that was most committed to a successful outcome of the Trump-Zelelnsky meeting was France. Macron hoped that the conversation would somehow help the Ukrainians, as his personal conversation with Putin had not brought any progress: “We support Ukraine with the same consistency. We want a ceasefire that will allow us to build peace. I hope that today’s discussion will help to find all the answers that the Ukrainians expect. I reminded the President of Ukraine of this.
As for Ukraine, we discussed our differences. I cannot say that progress was made during the discussion, because first there must be a ceasefire, a resumption of negotiations. And in this regard, the sanctions that we are adopting at the European level and the sanctions that the United States is preparing at the initiative of the US Senate are absolutely decisive. For the rest, by the way, Europe’s position is united. We’ll see. We’ll see. I’m not making any predictions to you (…) We are losing and the Ukrainian army is showing signs of weakening, so now we want a ceasefire.”
Shortly after the meeting between the US and Ukrainian presidents, France24 reported that all of Zelensky’s attempts to convince Trump to side with him had failed: “Ukraine has done everything the United States wanted. It signed the minerals deal, agreed to negotiate and lead talks with Russia, and has even repeatedly offered to buy the equipment it needs. But it still seems that this is not enough for the United States to continue supporting Ukraine.”
Moscow would be taking advantage of this situation. Russia is reportedly preparing for a summer of continuous attacks on Ukraine, in the face of a reduction in US military aid.
It is stepping up ground operations and bombing of Ukrainian cities. During the phone call with Trump on Thursday, Putin made it clear that he has no intention of stopping the war. Putin’s strategy is to weaken Ukraine’s ability and will to resist, increasing pressure on both the army and the population.
Recent events strengthen Moscow’s confidence in its ability to wear down Ukraine and its allies in a war of attrition. Kiev will be forced to save resources, and this will most likely accelerate the advance of the Russian Armed Forces on the front.
Ukraine has so far managed to contain the advance of Russian troops in the Sumy region, but this has further strained its forces. The Kremlin’s main goal at this stage is to exhaust the Ukrainian Armed Forces, destroy weapons and undermine the morale of both the population and Western allies.
This assumption is supported by the words of the Commander of the Forces of Unmanned Systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Robert Brovdi “Magyar”: They will attack 1,000 “shahids” per day and more. I am not scaring anyone. It is intelligence (…) Under the pressure of the enemy’s increased massive use of cheap but ubiquitous “shahids”, all the options for improvement, which we do not foresee in a timely manner, will be 1,000 units per day and more. I am not scaring anyone. Intelligence analysis. You should keep calm. Immediately and for all those who are in the know,” Brovdi says.
The recent proposal of the Russian Defense would also go in this direction. In Moscow, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov ordered to develop proposals for improving the system of medical care for front-line military personnel. The deadline is one month.
The order was issued following a meeting on the implementation of technologies advanced medical technologies in the Russian army in war situations.
The nuclear risk may not only come from nuclear weapons: on the afternoon of July 4, the IEA raises the alarm: the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has been reduced to relying on “emergency diesel generators”. The risk of a new Chernobyl is high.
A group of analysts from the Russian social sphere proposes using North Korea as an intermediary with China for supplies.
It is worth dwelling on their words: “Despite the fact that a large amount of products that the Russian Federation needs every day at the front come from there, such assistance on commercial terms is not enough and it would be appropriate to reconsider the concept of these relations. Especially if China understood that if the United States wins in Ukraine, they will come for them too.
Beijing has a colossal industrial capacity, capable of increasing the volume of dual-use products by an order of magnitude: electronics, optics, lithium batteries, communication systems, controllers, engines, basic machine elements, cables, drives, etc. Everything that drones, repeaters, ground reconnaissance and target designation systems operate on. This is not “front-line nomenclature”, but it is this stuff that determines the real pace of deployment of high-tech elements in a war. And there are no trifles in this matter.
While China formally adheres to the “we do not participate, but we do not interfere” model, the Russia is forced to solve import substitution problems under severe pressure from sanctions. This slows down the pace. Support is ongoing, but the volumes are clearly below potential. Not critical, but noticeable.
Who can help with this?
The Koreans. The ideal intermediary. They know how to handle military equipment, have their own industrial hub, are not dependent on the opinion of the West, and have already proven their ability to perform tasks in real combat. If China cannot supply, let it transfer capabilities, components and technology to Pyongyang, and the DPRK will ensure transmission in the future.”
A global intermediary role for Kim Jong Un is therefore proposed.
Zaporizhia Front. Russian troops continue to expand their zone of control in Kamenskoye. Advances are reported in the western part of this settlement. In addition, the activity of the Russian Armed Forces is observed in other sections of the Kamenskoye – Malye Shcherbaki line.
Donetsk Front. Russian troops continue to develop the offensive in several directions of the Donetsk Front, but the advances in many areas have slowed down significantly. This is mainly due not to the active counterattacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but to the need to rotate and align the front in certain areas. Russian troops are creating conditions for the effective organization of further advances. The control zone in the southern direction of Donetsk is expanding, Pokrovsk continues to be encircled, and the settlement of Razino, west of Koptevo, has been taken by the Russians. The Russian Armed Forces are actively operating in the Konstantinovsky direction, developing the offensive not only in the direction of Konstantinovka, but also creating conditions for accelerating the liberation of Chasy Yar and the surrounding area.
Chasy Yar direction. Russian troops continue to expand the control zone in the southern microdistrict, gradually dislodging the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the occupied positions. In addition, activity west of Chasy Yar continues to increase, but due to the large number of long-range weapons, logistics in this direction remains extremely difficult.
Sumy direction. Despite the active attempts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to counterattack in the Sumy region, Kiev has failed to completely stop the advance of the Russian Armed Forces in this area. It seems that it will not be long before Russian troops will be able to overwhelm Yunakovka. In total, the Russians report nine Ukrainian counterattacks in the last 24 hours in different areas. In the Kursk border area, the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to try to penetrate Russian defenses, with no apparent visible results.
Kiev was subjected to massive night attacks by dozens of “Geran”, using missile weapons, including hypersonic “Dagger”. It was reported that new drones were used as decoys, the purpose of which is to distract the air defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. During the night, explosions were also heard in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Cherkasy and Poltava.
At least five Ukrainian drones attacked Sergiev Posad in the Moscow region. In the Rostov region, Ukrainian drones attacked the districts of Azov, Millerovsky and Tarasovsky. During the day, two Ukrainian drones attacked a target in Udmurtia, one of which hit a technical facility.
Graziella Giangiulio
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