 "Russia unleashes largest drone attack on Ukraine, Zelenskyy calls for 'unity' between US, EU for lasting peace")
Russia launched more than 200 drones in an overnight attack, the largest of the war, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday as he condemned Russia’s ”aerial terror” and called for unity among Ukraine’s allies.
”Every day, our people stand against aerial terror,” he wrote on X.
Ukraine’s president on Sunday called for “unity” between the United States and Europe to achieve “lasting peace”, on the eve of the third anniversary of the Russian invasion and in the wake of Donald Trump’s pro-Moscow turn.
“We must do our best to achieve a lasting and just peace for Ukraine. This is possible with the unity of all partners: we need the strength of the whole of Europe, the strength of America, the strength of all those who want lasting peace,” Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram, also noting that overnight the country had suffered the biggest Russian drone attack since the invasion began.
Zelenskyy said that in total, nearly 1,150 attack drones, more than 1,400 guided aerial bombs and 35 missiles of various types, were launched by Russia at Ukraine in the past week.
‘Defending Russia’s future’
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday his soldiers in Ukraine are defending “national interests” and vowed “unchanged” determination to strengthen the country’s armed forces in a rapidly changing world.
The comments come ahead of the third anniversary of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, which triggered the deadliest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.
“Today, at the risk of their lives and with courage, they are resolutely defending their homeland, national interests and Russia’s future,” Putin said in a video released by the Kremlin on Russia’s Defenders of the Fatherland Day.
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More Shorts“We will continue to improve the combat capabilities of the army and navy, their combat readiness as an essential component of Russia’s security (and) guarantee of its present and future sovereignty,” he said.
‘Never sell’ captured Ukrainian territory
The Kremlin said Sunday it would never “sell” territory it has seized in eastern Ukraine as part of any ceasefire deal.
“The people decided to join Russia a long time ago,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state TV, referring to Moscow-staged votes in eastern Ukraine held amid the offensive that were slammed as bogus by Kyiv, the West and international monitors. “No one will ever sell off these territories. That’s the most important thing.”
Kremlin calls Putin-Trump dialogue ‘promising’
The Kremlin said Sunday dialogue between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin was “promising”, days after top officials from Moscow and Washington met in Riyadh to discuss improving fractured relations and how to end the three-year Ukraine conflict.
“This is a dialogue between two extraordinary presidents. That’s promising,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state TV.
With inputs from agencies
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