Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy yesterday called for the delivery of an additional 25 US Patriot anti-missile batteries amid the rapidly escalating air war with Russia, as it became clear that US President Donald Trump had once again tacked sharply toward Moscow.
He added that he would be ready to join Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump at their summit in Hungary if he was invited.
Reports over the weekend said Trump had privately urged Zelenskiy to accept Russia’s terms for ending the war in Ukraine during a fractious White House meeting on Friday, warning that Putin had said he would “destroy” Ukraine if it did not agree.
Photo: EPA
The meeting descended at times into a “shouting match,” with Trump “cursing all the time,” a Financial Times report said.
Speaking in Kyiv after talks with Trump and US weapons makers, Zelenskiy said Ukraine needed 25 US Patriot anti-missile batteries and that Russia’s frozen assets in the west should be used to buy them.
Ukraine already has some Patriot missile interceptors, but they are not enough to protect most of its major cities or energy infrastructure, which have once again come under heavy Russian attack as winter approaches.
Zelenskiy’s two phone calls with Trump and a face-to-face meeting in Washington last week had raised hopes that Washington could be on the verge of supplying long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. However, it became clear in the past few days that the US president had once again performed an abrupt U-turn after a two-hour phone conversation with Putin on Friday afternoon.
After inviting Putin to summit in Hungary, Trump reverted to his position on Sunday that Russia should be rewarded for its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, with Kyiv ceding large parts of its sovereign territory.
Behind the scenes, Trump had pushed Zelenskiy to give up swaths of territory to Russia, two people briefed on the discussion told Reuters.
“Let it be cut the way it is,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday.
“It’s cut up right now,” he said, adding that you can “leave it the way it is right now.”
“They can negotiate something later on down the line,” he said.
But for now, both sides of the conflict should “stop at the battle line — go home, stop fighting, stop killing people,” he said.
Commenting on reports of the Trump-Zelenskiy meeting, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said Ukrainians are very resilient, and are fighting for their freedom, their independence and their country.
“So, they can’t just surrender. And I think, for the international order, it is also negative if the aggressor gets what he wants, because that gives a signal to all the aggressors in the world that you can just go and take what you wish for,” she said.
Contradicting Trump’s positive spin on his conversation with Putin, aides close to Zelenskiy told the Kyiv Independent: “Putin doesn’t want to talk about anything with Ukraine and Zelenskiy, except for big concessions. He hasn’t agreed to a direct meeting with Zelenskiy.”
“But Putin has to somehow move in such a way as to keep Trump’s mood away from tough moves; that’s his goal. And he’s succeeding,” they said.
Commenting on the venue for the Trump-Putin meeting, and his desire to attend, Zelenskiy also suggested Budapest was a problematic location.
“If I am invited to Budapest — if it is an invitation in a format where we meet as three or, as it’s called, shuttle diplomacy, President Trump meets with Putin and President Trump meets with me — then in one format or another, we will agree,” he said.
However, he criticized the choice of Hungary, which has a tense relationship with Kyiv and is seen as the most Kremlin-sympathetic member of the EU.
“I do not believe that a prime minister who blocks Ukraine everywhere can do anything positive for Ukrainians or even provide a balanced contribution,” Zelenskiy said, referring to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot said Putin should only come to Europe if it was to sign an unconditional ceasefire with Ukraine.
“It is useful for the US authorities to be able to exchange views in order to follow the dialogue with the Russian authorities. But Vladimir Putin’s announced visit to the European Union only makes sense if it leads to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire,” he said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
REBUFFED: In response to Chinese criticism over recent arms sales, Washington urged Beijing to engage in meaningful dialogue instead of threats and intimidation Washington’s long-term commitment to Taiwan would not change, the US Department of State said yesterday, urging Beijing to stop pressuring Taiwan and engage in meaningful bilateral dialogues. The remarks came in response to a backlash from Beijing about Washington’s latest approval of arms sales to Taiwan. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement on Wednesday that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US has asked to purchase an arms package, including Tactical Mission Network Software; AH-1W helicopter spare and repair parts; M109A7 self-propelled howitzers; HIMARS long range precision strike systems; tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missiles; Javelin
RSS