Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with European leaders in London on Monday, in a present of solidarity, after US President Donald Trump accused him of not studying the newest peace proposal and as the Kremlin praised America’s new tougher posture in direction of Europe.
Trump criticized Zelensky on Sunday after talks between US and Ukrainian negotiators over the weekend in Miami ended with unresolved questions over security ensures, territorial points and continued concern that the US proposal tilts in Russia’s favor.
“We’ve been speaking to [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin and we’ve been speaking to Ukrainian leaders, including… President Zelensky, and I have to say that I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelensky hasn’t yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago,” Trump mentioned.
He added that Russia would favor to have all of Ukraine and that he believes Moscow is “fine” with the peace plan, however “I’m not sure that Zelensky’s fine with it.”
Trump’s remarks got here as the Kremlin welcomed his administration’s new national security strategy, a overseas coverage realignment that adopts an unprecedentedly confrontational posture towards Europe.
The US security strategy doc has dropped the language of previous administrations describing Russia as a risk, says European nations regard Moscow as “an existential threat,” and casts Washington as the central dealer in re-establishing “conditions of stability within Europe and strategic stability with Russia.”
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to applaud the strategy and praised the American president, calling him “strong.”
“The adjustments we are seeing, I would say, are, in many ways, consistent with our vision,” Peskov mentioned, including: “Perhaps one can hope that this may be a modest guarantee that it will be possible to continue working constructively together to find a peaceful settlement for Ukraine, at the very least.”
For European leaders, the timing is unsettling: the US is steering the Ukraine peace talks simply as its posture towards Europe hardens, elevating fears that this shift might affect negotiations at a crucial second.
These points will seemingly be on the desk Monday when Zelensky travels to London, the place he’s set to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The European leaders will “take stock together of the situation and the ongoing negotiations within the framework of the American mediation,” Macron mentioned.
Talks in Miami between US and Ukrainian negotiators got here to a stopping level Saturday with no breakthroughs, Ukrainian officers mentioned, noting that key questions went unanswered.
After three days of talks, “difficult issues remain,” Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Olga Stefanishyna mentioned Saturday, “but both sides continue working to shape realistic and acceptable solutions.”
“The main challenges at this stage concern questions of territory and guarantees, and we are actively seeking optimal formats for addressing them,” Stefanishyna mentioned. “More details will be provided once all information is compiled.”
The marathon periods started Thursday between US particular envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Ukrainian officers Rustem Umerov and Andriy Hnatov.
Territory and security ensures have lengthy been the central obstacles to any potential settlement. Kyiv maintains {that a} simply finish to the warfare should embrace reliable security commitments and wouldn’t require it to cede extra territory.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned earlier this week that he intends to seize Ukraine’s japanese Donbas area by any means.
Russia is “locking itself into an escalatory approach and is not seeking peace,” Macron mentioned Saturday.
“We must continue to put pressure on Russia to compel it toward peace,” he mentioned, including: “For what is at stake in Ukraine is also the security of Europe as a whole.”
As the diplomatic to-and-fro continues, Russia launched one among its largest barrages of drones and missiles in months throughout Ukraine, killing a minimum of seven folks over the weekend, in accordance to a NCS tally of native authority figures. More than a dozen extra have been injured.
In the previous week, Russia has launched over 1,600 assault drones, round 1,200 guided aerial bombs and practically 70 missiles towards Ukraine, Zelensky mentioned Sunday. He mentioned the first targets of the strikes have been the infrastructure “that keeps everyday life going.”
The strikes focused power infrastructure in numerous areas over the weekend, in accordance to the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy. Consumers in the Odesa, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv areas have been with out energy on Saturday, the ministry mentioned. And on Sunday, energy reduce schedules have been launched in all areas of Ukraine, together with in Kyiv, the place residents of the capital have been with out electrical energy for about 12 hours.
Ukraine’s navy mentioned Saturday that it had hit the Ryazan oil refinery in western Russia, one of many nation’s largest refineries, in an in a single day assault. Moscow didn’t instantly reply to the claims.
Meanwhile, investigations are underway in Ireland and France after two extra incidents this week involving unidentified drones flying shut to the coastlines of every nation, marking the newest in a string of unexplained sightings in a number of European nations since September. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has known as the spate of drone incursions “hybrid warfare.”
Early final week, a number of drones have been seen flying off the coast of Dublin, simply as a airplane carrying Zelensky for a go to with the Irish premiere was about to land.
And on Thursday evening, a number of drones flew shut to a French naval base on the Atlantic coast housing nuclear ballistic missile submarines, in accordance to French prosecutors.
Some drones have disrupted civilian air visitors, whereas others have flown shut to airbases and different navy services.
European officers have mentioned that they imagine Russia is behind a minimum of a number of the incidents, however no drone has been retrieved or shot down. Putin has beforehand ridiculed claims that Moscow was behind drone sightings in Europe.
NCS’s Jessie Yeung, Max Saltman, Jennifer Hansler and Alejandra Jaramillo contributed reporting.