Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy yesterday warned against heeding a Kremlin call to halt military aid for his country and announced that he was to speak with US President Donald Trump within hours, or after press time last night.
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued the demand during a call with Trump on Tuesday, part of a rapprochement initiated by Washington that seeks to broker a complete ceasefire more than three years into the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“I do not believe that we should make any concessions in terms of assistance for Ukraine, but rather there should be an increase in assistance for Ukraine,” Zelenskiy told a news conference with Finnish President Alexander Stubb in Helsinki.
Photo: AFP
Zelenskiy said that an increase in aid would “signal that Ukraine is ready for any surprises from the Russians.”
The call between Trump and Putin failed to secure the breakthrough ceasefire that Ukraine has been pushing for, after Kyiv endorsed the US-led proposal last week.
However, Moscow agreed to halt Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Zelenskiy said that he hoped to learn details during a call later in the day with Trump.
“Today I will have contacts with President Trump and we will discuss the next steps,” Zelenskiy said.
Earlier he accused Russia of effectively rejecting a US-backed ceasefire proposal as he criticized an overnight barrage of Russian drone and missile strikes over Ukraine.
Ukraine’s national railway service said the barrage hit railway energy infrastructure in the central Dnipropetrovsk region.
“So much for a pause in the attacks on the energy sector or an energy truce executed by the enemy,” it said.
The attacks killed one person, wounded others and damaged two hospitals, Zelenskiy said, adding that they showed “Putin’s words are very much at odds with reality.”
Zelenskiy said that Washington should take a lead role in overseeing any agreement leading to a halt in Russian and Ukrainian attacks on energy infrastructure.
“The United States should be the main controlling entity,” he said. “If the Russians don’t hit our targets, we will definitely not hit their targets.”
He added that he hoped the US would continue to exert pressure on Russia to agree to a complete ceasefire.
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