Trump Compares Ukraine War to Playground Fight; Moscow Disagrees

The Russian side disagrees with US President Donald Trump's description of the conflict in Ukraine as "a fight between two children.” For Russia, it is a matter of national interests and security, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"President Trump may have his own perspective on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but for us, it is an existential issue, one of national interests, security, our future and that of our children, the future of our country,” Peskov said. "What's important is that we continue our contacts with Washington,” he added.

According to Peskov, this is the reason why the military operation is being carried out after all options for resolving the issue through political and diplomatic means were exhausted. He also noted that all of Moscow's initiatives aimed at resolving the contradictions were completely rejected.

Peskov was responding to Trump's earlier remarks, in which the US president compared the war between Russia and Ukraine to "a fight between kids.” Trump made the comments during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

“Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy,” Trump said in the Oval Office, with his German counterpart Friedrich Merz looking on silently. “They hate each other, and they’re fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart. They don’t want to be pulled. Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart," Trump said, as quoted by CNN.

According to Trump, he had shared this analogy with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their June 4 phone call.

“You see it in hockey. You see it in sports. The referees let them go for a couple of seconds,” he said. “Let them go for a little while before you pull them apart.” Trump said.

Speaking at the White House alongside Merz, Trump warned that Russia-Ukraine mutual attacks increase the risk of escalation. He stressed that he is not satisfied with how the situation is developing but still hopes to succeed in resolving the military conflict.

On June 2, during the second round of negotiations in Istanbul, Russian and Ukrainian delegations exchanged memorandums outlining their respective terms for conflict resolution. Moscow is demanding the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR, LPR), as well as from the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, and the international recognition of these territories as part of Russia. Ukraine, for its part, has stated that a summit between the two countries' leaders is necessary, but only after reaching an agreement on a ceasefire.