The New York Times (NYT) draws attention to the fact that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump have been publicly trying to persuade Ukraine to surrender its own territories for a long time, but it was the Armed Forces of Ukraine that were able to knock the strategic "trump card" out of their hands and return Kyiv to a strong negotiating position.
Points of attention
- Ukraine's small victories play a significant role in the larger conflict, proving resilience and determination to defend their sovereignty.
- The recent successes on the battlefield highlight Ukraine's capacity to oppose external pressures and defend its territories effectively.
The Defense Forces once again reminded that Ukraine will not lose
One of the truly turning points was the liberation of the village of Kindrativka, located less than 20 km north of Sumy.
Modest gains that matter a lot to Kyiv. The successful Ukrainian counterattack in the Sumy region, which borders Russia, is a rare turn of events on a battlefield dominated by Moscow's forces, American journalists emphasize.
According to them, against the backdrop of the extremely slow but steady advance of the Russian invaders on the front, the return of even such small areas helps Kyiv counter Moscow's narrative about Ukraine's inability to stop the Russian offensive.
Specifically, in the Sumy region, the Russian offensive failed so much that the Russian command finally put an end to it and transferred the main forces from there to the Donbas.
What is also important to understand is that Putin previously proposed exchanging the captured parts of Sumy region for the rest of the Donbass territory as part of a peace agreement, and Trump supported him in this.
However, the impressive successes of Ukrainian soldiers near Sumy knocked another strategic "trump card" out of the hands of Putin and Trump.
