American President Donald Trump is confident that the Russian narrative about "taking Kyiv in four hours" was true at the time, and the occupiers could have ended the war in Ukraine with their victory on the very first day if some Russian general had not made a mistake. It consisted of the fact that this military officer decided to head to the Ukrainian capital straight across a field instead of using the highway.
Now that Russian general has been eliminated, Trump hinted. The US president told the story about "Kyiv in four hours" in an interview with Axios.
Tanks in the Mud
"They had some general who, apparently, is no longer with us. I don't think anyone even knows this story – he decided, instead of going straight to Kyiv and ending the war on the first day, to drive tanks through agricultural fields, through dirt and mud. They had record rainfall a couple of days before, so all those tanks got stuck in that mud," Trump said.
Then, according to him, Ukrainian forces used American "Javelins" and destroyed all those tanks. Regarding this, Trump again reminded that it was he who " gave the Ukrainians 'Javelins,' while Obama gave towels."
" This war would have ended in one day. It was four and a half years ago. It was a huge mistake when the general decided to go through the field instead of the road. They got stuck in the swamp, in the mud, couldn't move," the US president said.
Good Roads and Confidence
He emphasized that Ukraine had "high-quality highways," and if the Russian tanks had traveled on them, "they would have reached Kyiv in four hours", and the war would have ended there.
But that did not happen because of the "general's mistake," which gave Ukrainians confidence in their ability to resist the Russian invasion.
"What's more, when they destroyed all those tanks, it added to the Ukrainians' confidence. Because you know, confidence is very important," Trump said.
The G7 Was the G8
Trump also believes that Russia would not have attacked Ukraine if, under the administration of his predecessor Barack Obama, the aggressor country had not been expelled from the G8.
However, unlike the story about "tanks in the mud," which the American leader presented as a real historical fact, the expulsion of Russia from the "G8" as a factor in the start of the war was presented by Trump as a speculation.
" They should have kept the 'G8'. Probably, there would have been no war between Russia and Ukraine if they had done that, but Obama didn't want to see Putin there," the US president said.
What Actually Happened
In some details, Trump's story about "tanks in the mud" contains truthful elements. Indeed, Ukrainian defenders destroyed an enemy tank column that was heading to Kyiv, and it is true that our warriors used exactly 'Javelins' to burn the invaders' equipment.
And the Russian invaders reached the capital – but could not enter Kyiv.
Moreover, not one but several such columns of invaders were destroyed near Kyiv. Let us recall, for example, how on the tenth day of the invasion, March 5, 2022, a military column of occupiers moved from Irpin to Stoyanka, and then tried to break through to Horenichi.
As the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted, that day, in addition to the tank column, two enemy aircraft were destroyed (three pilots were captured) and five helicopters were shot down.
