Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned Moscow’s large aerial assault on Kyiv and the encircling region proved Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “man of war,” forward of the Ukrainian chief’s scheduled assembly with US President Donald Trump in Florida.
Standing beside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Zelensky instructed reporters that the newest Russian assaults – the yr’s longest sustained assault on the capital – “really showed Putin doesn’t want peace.”
“We want peace,” Zelensky mentioned. “And he’s a man of war.”
The Ukrainian president arrived in Florida late on Saturday, native time, with his delegation, Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya mentioned on X.
“Good evening, Florida!” Kyslytsya posted, sharing a photograph of an plane with Trump’s surname displayed on its aspect.
Saturday’s attack on Kyiv metropolis and the encircling region lasted almost 10 hours, killing a minimum of two individuals and injuring 44 extra, together with two youngsters, in line with native authorities.
More than 40% of residential buildings in Kyiv additionally haven’t any heating consequently, amid freezing temperatures, Oleksiy Kuleba, a senior authorities minister, mentioned on social media.
Local residents had been saved on edge into the morning, with air raid sirens blaring on and off intermittently throughout the day.
Speaking aboard a aircraft en path to the United States, Zelensky mentioned he can be searching for a sign throughout talks with Trump that Ukraine would obtain legally binding safety ensures as half of any peace deal.
He additionally repeated calls for the bolstering of Ukraine’s air defenses, saying the nation wanted extra missiles to fend off Russia’s relentless assaults. “The support of Europeans is important to us today. We do not have enough additional air defense systems,” he mentioned.
Ahead of his assembly with Trump, Zelensky stopped in Canada for talks with Carney, who introduced an additional 2.5 billion Canadian {dollars} ($1.83 billion) in financial help for Ukraine.
According to a Canadian authorities supply with information of the brand new help bundle, it’ll additionally allow the International Monetary Fund to lend Ukraine an extra $8.4 billion.
Trump mentioned in an interview with Politico that he expects the assembly with Zelensky to “go good,” however cautioned that the Ukrainian president “doesn’t have anything until I approve it.” He added that he additionally expects to talk with Putin “soon, as much as I want.”
As for Putin, Russian state media service TASS cited him as saying that, “if Kyiv is not willing to resolve the matter peacefully, Russia will accomplish all the aims of the special military operation by military means,” utilizing a euphemism for the warfare in Ukraine.
In complete, Russia launched 519 drones and 40 missiles at Ukraine in a single day, in line with Ukraine’s air drive.
They primarily focused vitality and civilian infrastructure within the capital metropolis, Zelensky mentioned.
Fires broke out throughout town, engulfing a automobile restore store and a number of other residential buildings, and forcing aged residents to evacuate a care dwelling as flames unfold, in line with Kyiv Emergency Service.
Pointing to Russia’s current engagement in talks with US representatives to finish preventing within the nation, Zelensky wrote on X within the wake of the attack that “Russian representatives engage in lengthy talks, but in reality, Kinzhals and ‘shaheds’ speak for them.” Kinzhals are Russian ballistic missiles and Shaheds are drones provided by Iran to Russia.
He added: “This is the true attitude of Putin and his inner circle.”
In response to the assaults, Poland scrambled fighter jets and quickly closed two airports, Reuters reported, citing a submit by the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency on X.
US officers mentioned they had been hopeful that Sunday’s Zelensky-Trump assembly can be productive after per week of intensive efforts between US and Ukrainian negotiators. While officers didn’t cite a particular purpose for the assembly, Zelensky instructed Axios Friday that he wished to conclude a framework to finish the warfare.
The assembly just isn’t anticipated to incorporate any European leaders, in line with US and European officers.
The Ukrainians have been pushing for a gathering between Zelensky and Trump for months, European officers mentioned. The Europeans count on a constructive assembly as a result of they describe the present dynamic between the US and Ukraine as productive. Still, they acknowledge that the end result of any assembly with Trump is unpredictable.
“There is no low-risk scenario with Trump,” mentioned one NATO official.
In preparation for Sunday’s assembly, Zelensky mentioned Friday that he had spoken with the leaders of NATO, Canada, Germany, Finland, Denmark and Estonia to coordinate their positions.
Earlier this week, Zelensky offered to compromise on some of the thorniest points which have to date stalled the US-mediated peace course of with Russia. It just isn’t clear, nonetheless, whether or not Zelensky’s concessions will fulfill the Kremlin.
The preliminary 28-point peace plan, which emerged in November following talks between the United States and Russia, was criticized by Ukraine’s allies as closely favoring Moscow. Following weeks of talks between Ukrainian and US officers, that draft has been slimmed all the way down to the present 20-point plan, which Zelensky has mentioned can function a “foundational document on ending the war.”
Zelensky instructed reporters that Ukraine had not acquired an official response from the Kremlin to the newest proposal. He mentioned Kyiv is negotiating solely with Washington, which in flip is speaking with Moscow.
If Russia doesn’t conform to the peace plan drafted by Ukraine and the United States, Zelensky recommended that extra needs to be completed to drive Moscow’s hand. “If Ukraine shows its position, it is constructive – and Russia, for example, does not agree, then the (existing) pressure is not enough,” Zelensky mentioned, including that he needs to debate this with Trump.
Russia’s central calls for are for Ukraine to desert its ambition to hitch NATO – which was a distant prospect earlier than Moscow launched its all-out invasion of the nation in February 2022 – and for Kyiv’s army to withdraw totally from Ukraine’s japanese Donetsk and Luhansk areas, an unlimited space generally known as the Donbas. It was right here that the Kremlin began destabilizing Ukraine in 2014, serving to pro-Russian separatists achieve management of most of the realm. The Donbas was ultimately illegally annexed by Russia in September 2022.
Zelensky has provided concessions on each points. During a wide-ranging press convention Tuesday to debate the brand new 20-point peace plan, Zelensky mentioned Ukraine was searching for safety ensures from its allies that may “mirror” NATO’s Article 5 – which requires all members to defend any member that has come below attack – however would not pursue full membership of the army alliance.
Zelensky additionally mentioned Ukraine can be prepared to withdraw its troops from components of the Donetsk region not presently occupied by Russian forces. The Ukrainian chief mentioned any withdrawal of troops must be reciprocal, with Moscow giving up as a lot Ukrainian territory as that ceded by Kyiv and people pockets of the Donbas changing into demilitarized consequently. Earlier this month, Zelensky famous that US negotiators wished these territories to develop into “free economic zones” as soon as all troops had been withdrawn.
Asked about Zelensky’s potential willingness to contemplate territorial concessions for a peace deal, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov instructed NCS that “giving up the rest of Donetsk could contribute significantly.”
Ukraine’s structure requires any modifications to the nation’s borders to be authorised in a referendum. Zelensky reiterated Friday that “the fate of Ukraine should be decided by the people of Ukraine” and mentioned Ukraine’s allies “have enough power to force Russia or to negotiate with the Russians” to make sure that any such plebiscite may very well be carried out safely.
This story has been up to date with further info.