MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Wednesday it was economically stable and its army was advancing in Ukraine, rejecting comments by U.S. President Donald Trump urging Kyiv to take advantage of Russian economic weakness and seize back all of its captured territory.
In a sudden and striking rhetorical shift, Trump said on Tuesday that he believed Ukraine could retake all the land seized by Russia, which currently controls about a fifth of the country.
"Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this
is the time for Ukraine to act," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov attributed Trump's comments to the fact he had just met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
"Of course, President Trump heard Zelenskiy's version of events. And apparently at this point, this version is the reason for the assessment we heard," Peskov said in an interview with RBC radio.
Peskov said the Russian army was making gains in Ukraine, where he said it was deliberately advancing with caution. Western military analysts attribute the lack of any recent Russian breakthrough to a determined and resourceful Ukrainian defence, with both sides worn down by more than three-and-a-half years of war.
"This, of course, is more a question for our military, but overall - and the president has repeatedly stated this - we are moving forward very carefully to minimise losses... (and) so as not to undermine our offensive potential. These are very deliberate actions," Peskov said.
"The dynamics, I repeat, show that for those who are unwilling to negotiate now, the position will be much worse tomorrow and the day after."
Peskov brushed off a comment by Trump describing Russia as a "paper tiger", saying that Russia was a bear, not a tiger, and there was no such thing as a paper bear.
"Russia maintains its resilience. Russia maintains macroeconomic stability," Peskov said.
"Yes, Russia is experiencing certain tensions and problem areas in various sectors of the economy, which are inevitably connected with the myriad economic restrictions, sanctions, and so on that we face, with the global economic turmoil. It's not just sanctions."
(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova and Gleb Stolyarov; writing by Mark Trevelyan: Editing by Sharon Singleton)
