A Former Adviser To Donald Trump Says He Is Being 'Played' By Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump give a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, in 2018.A former top adviser to Donald Trump has said the US president is being “played” by Vladimir Putin as he tries to stop the war in Ukraine.Fiona Hill, who was senior director for European and Russian affairs on the US national security council during Trump’s first term in office, also accused the president of “lies” for suggesting Ukraine is losing.Trump last night launched another volley of abuse at Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for rejecting his latest peace plan.Posting on Truth Social, he said: “The situation for Ukraine is dire — He can have peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole country.”But Hill, who served under Trump between 2017 and 2019, told the Today podcast attacked the president’s peace plan, which would see Ukraine having to legally recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.She said: “This has been driven by Donald Trump and the people around him. It’s not something that’s been worked out in close consultation with anyone else. The Ukrainians are getting this pushed on them and that’s going to be the major part of the problem.”Hill added: “Ukraine hasn’t lost – that’s the whole point. It’s Trump who’s telling everybody that Ukraine has lost. None of us want this war to continue, the Ukrainians do not want this war to continue. But it an absolute lie that the Ukrainians have lost this war because Putin’s aims were to take control of Ukraine and he has not taken control of Ukraine.”Asked by presenter Nick Robinson if Putin “knows how to play Trump”, Hill replied: “Absolutely he does, but I think unfortunately a lot of people know how to play Trump because people can play to his vanity.“They can exploit his desires for success in business and politics, exploit the fact that he always needs to have a deal, he needs to have some foreign policy triumph. And also that he’s just incredibly susceptible to flattery.“Putin said he had been praying for Trump. Trump wants to be the centre of attention at all points.”Related...Trump Attacks Zelenskyy Yet Again, Accusing Ukraine's President Of 'Inflammatory Statements' Over CrimeaMajor Setback For Ukraine Peace Talks In UK As Trump's Top Diplomat Pulls OutMost Brits Say Donald Trump Should Not Be Allowed To Address Parliament

Comments

Breaking news

A’ Hobat: Professor translates fantasy classic into Gaelic

Comments

Similar News

Key Trump Ally Slams The US Peace Plan For Ukraine: 'It Rewards Putin Too Much'

Attacked on both sides: Putin launches major drone strike on Kyiv after Donald Trump blasted Zelensky for 'harming peace negotiations' and told him to give up land to Russia

Donald Trump launches scathing attack on Zelensky and warns wartime leader to back his peace deal and forfeit land to Putin or lose ALL of Ukraine

Trump slates Ukraine for not ceding land to Putin as he warns Zelensky to accept peace deal

Trump complains Zelensky harder to deal with than Russia in peace talks

Russia Says Zelensky Wants to 'Torpedo' Ukraine Peace Talks

Poland Urges Ukraine, Russia 'Compromise' as Trump Threatens to Walk Away

Dem Rep. Goldman: Trump's Corrupt Actions Turning America into 'Banana Republic'

Rubio, Witkoff Dismiss Fake News Politico Story That White House Is Considering Lifting Sanctions on Russia: 'Totally Fictitious'

BREAKING: NATO warplanes scrambled as Vladimir Putin unleashes 'murderous' hell on Ukraine

Trump on Trade Talks with China: ‘Everybody Wants to Be a Part of What We’re Doing’

Fox News Viewers Get An Uncomfortable Truth About Trump On Live TV

Zelensky Reacts to Ben Shapiro's Concerns Over US Military Aid

Donald Trump's arrogant eight-word remark about Canada reignites fire in bitter row

Trump Sends US Warship to China's Coast

Crimea: What to know about peninsula at centre of Trump-Zelensky standoff

Markey: 'Rubio Is Acting Unconstitutionally and Illegally on Behalf of Donald Trump'

James Clyburn Takes a Swipe at Washington Post, CBS for Caving to Trump

Why South Africa and Ukraine are wooing each other - and what will Trump think?

Breaking news

A’ Hobat: Professor translates fantasy classic into Gaelic

'Breast cancer is not pink': New play to tell untold stories of dealing with disease

'Never considered myself an artist': Edinburgh pensioner to stage exhibition

University of Edinburgh: 350 staff take voluntary severance

First Minister John Swinney to attend major climate event in Glasgow

Grovelling Keir admits treatment of women’s rights campaigners like JK Rowling in trans debate was ‘clearly wrong’

Cop caught on CCTV kissing prisoner while in her police uniform

The exact moment Donald Trump’s popularity started to tank revealed

UK bans console controllers being shipped for Putin’s forces to pilot drones

Asos boss says retailer ‘resilient’ as US tariffs loom

We’ve been eating chocolate digestives wrong, says McVitie’s biscuit factory boss

Popular UK chocolate bar set to see steep price hike as costs soar

Magician who tricked her way into men-only Magic Circle given membership 34 years after expulsion

Birmingham headteacher expels pupil after branding him the ‘naughtiest’ boy in the school, mother claims

UK’s clean power push ‘route to energy security’, says Ed Miliband

Pope's doctor recounts Francis' last moments in newspaper interview

What is Ed Miliband’s ‘postcode pricing’ plan for energy bills and how would it work?

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv struck by massive missile strike hours after Trump hits out at Zelensky

New online safety rules will force tech firms to change, Ofcom insists

Mapped: Thousands expected to attend trans rights protests across the UK

Doctor reveals details of Pope Francis’s final moments, and the pontiff’s last regret

Oasis fan lost £1,700 in scam during scramble for reunion tour tickets

Attacks on prison staff rise to new high as tensions in overcrowded jails reach breaking point

NATO warplanes scrambled after 'murderous' assault on Ukraine by Putin

Health bosses ask Dumfries and Galloway residents to order only medicine they need

Kirkcudbright woman to run London Marathon for cause close to her heart

Tory by-election candidate is Orange Order member linked to 'No Surrender' group

Scots gran 'left in the dark' by energy supplier amid looming meter switch-off

Successful Dunkeld takeaway given the go-ahead for expansion

Cops clock vehicle 'travelling at twice the speed limit' on M74 on Easter Sunday

'Breathing' magma cap discovered less than 4km under Yellowstone National Park

Man charged with murder after woman stabbed to death in London

Oasis fans lost more than &#163;2m to ticket scams, major bank warns

Pepper spray to be used in young offender institutions as violence rises

Glasgow Orange Walk road closures as 500 to march through city

South Lanarkshire scooter club to celebrate first anniversary with 50-mile charity ride

Architect's family back fight for future of Perth's Bell's Sports Centre

Gay minister row as Kinross-shire parish rejects candidates in same-sex relationships

Perth street's luck turns as embankment revamp unveiled

'Versatile' Ninja Multi-cooker that 'saves time in kitchen' drops to under £100

Marathon man from Wishaw running to put Children First again with double challenge

Dumfries and Galloway great-grandmother fears losing power due to ageing meter switch-off

Kate Middleton-loved trainers that 'look good with everything' have been slashed by £35

'Doctors forced me to tell my deaf dad he had terminal cancer'

Unnerving moment Russian stowaway tricks airport security to illegally board flight

Glastonbury Festival resale ticket hacks and new system explained

Pope Francis mourners furious as people snap 'disrespectful' selfies with his dead body

One word drivers urged to put on car insurance form that can cut costs by 25%

Pet owners reveal what they wish they knew before bringing home a dog or cat

Pepper spray to be used against children in jails as CCTV reveals spiralling violence

Full list of 34 shops and cafes at new £30m UK shopping outlet - including M&S

China rocket launch fires three astronauts to satellite amid fears of new space race

'My husband's regular bugs were actually cancer and he died at just 36'

Alton fire: Two boys, 15, arrested on suspicion of elderly couple's murder

Danny Dyer cheating claims in full from 'fan threesome to Girls Aloud affair'

Inside Pope Francis' last moments as staff desperately battled to revive him

Footballer's Wives cast now from Coronation Street to sex scene that scarred star for life

DWP PIP conditions likely to secure payments from 2025 - full list

Oasis fans lost more than £2m to ticket scams, major bank warns