MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax) - European leaders want to sway U.S. President Donald Trump to their side and "chip away at Russia in everything," the Kremlin said, commenting on the U.S. president's conversations with the leaders of a number of EU countries ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"They are counting on swaying Trump to their position. As Trump's position is still quite neutral, and he is really engaged in settlement issues, they have a blatantly pro-Ukrainian one, and their, probably, their main trajectory is to chip away at Russia in everything, and they want to sway Trump to their side," Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin, an excerpt of which the latter posted on his Telegram channel.
Peskov was commenting on the European leaders' statements about their conversations with Trump ahead of talks with Putin.
At the same time, Peskov said, "But, as we know, only those who are keeping the same distance from the parties to the conflict can engage in real mediation, real settlement."