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Demands for ceasefire deadline come as UK and French military officials meet in Kyiv
Vladimir Putin does not want a ceasefire, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as 19 were killed in a drone attack on Kryvyi Rih.
Mr Zelensky said: “People die every day. There is only one reason why this continues: Russia does not want a ceasefire, and we see it. The whole world sees it.”
He said rescue operations were ongoing in the central city, with regional governor Serhii Lysak adding that at least 50 people were injured.
It comes after US secretary of state Marco Rubio said the US will know “soon enough” if Putin is “serious about peace” as Nato leaders call for Moscow to be given a deadline to accept a ceasefire deal.
Mr Rubio told Nato allies that Donald Trump will be able to see Russia’s true intentions in a matter of weeks, amid reports that the US president has grown wary of Vladimir Putin’s stalling on an agreement.
„We will know soon enough, in a matter of weeks, not months, whether Russia is serious about peace or not. I hope they are,“ Rubio said after a two-day Nato meeting.
Russia’s top negotiator Kirill Dmitriev has been visiting not only the US but several other countries in Moscow’s push to unlock frozen Russian assets, Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“He (Dmitriev) was not only in the US – we are monitoring the movements of our adversaries,” Mr Zelensky said during the briefing.
The Ukrainian president said Moscow is pressuring foreign governments to help release the funds by offering deals involving high-tech goods such as aircraft construction.
Russia is actively trying to have sanctions lifted, but as of now both Europe and the US remain firm in their stance of continuing to impose them, Mr Zelensky said.
Mr Dmitriev, Mr Putin’s investment envoy, said on Thursday that he saw a „positive dynamic“ in relations between Moscow and Washington after holding two days of meetings in Washington, but said more meetings were needed to sort out differences.
European military planners could be ready within a month with details of a foreign troop contingent in Ukraine seen as critical to ending the war with Russia, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv after meeting British and French military chiefs, Mr Zelensky said many other countries would also contribute to the effort, which envisages foreign troops patrolling Ukrainian land, sea and airspace.
„I think the teams need about a month, no longer, and we will be fully ready with an understanding of this infrastructure,“ he said.
Mr Zelensky added that military working groups would meet weekly until then to finalise the details. He did not specify which other nations would contribute.
Kyiv is seeking security guarantees from its allies in the event of a peace agreement with Moscow to prevent a repeat of its February 2022 full-scale invasion.
Ukrainian army leaders including Kyiv’s top general and the chief of its general staff also met the visiting European military officials yesterday.
Ukraine’s military said early today that Russia was „again spreading false information“ by saying it had targeted a gathering of servicemen in a missile strike on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih.
„The missile struck a residential area with a playground,“ the military’s General Staff said in a statement on Telegram.
„Through this latest violation of the norms of international human rights, the insidious enemy shows that it is in no way seeking peace but rather intends to continue its invasion and war to destroy Ukraine and all Ukrainians.“
Local officials say the strike killed at least 18 people, including nine children.
There must be red lines in terms of a timetable when it comes to a Ukraine ceasefire, Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said yesterday.
„(Russian president Vladimir Putin) is asking more and he is not asking only more about Ukraine. He’s just putting new conditions on the table (…) there must be some kind of red lines on the timetable“, he said as he arrived in Brussels to meet his Nato counterparts.
The UK and French foreign ministers have accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in ceasefire talks aimed at halting Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine and demanded a swift response from Russia after weeks of US efforts to secure a truce.
„Our judgment is that Putin continues to obfuscate, continues to drag his feet,“ foreign secretary David Lammy told reporters at Nato headquarters, standing alongside French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in a symbolic show of unity.
„We see you, Vladimir Putin. We know what you are doing,“ Mr Lammy said.
Mr Barrot said that Ukraine had accepted ceasefire terms three weeks ago, and that Russia now „owes an answer to the United States.“
„Russia has been flip-flopping, continuing its strikes on energy infrastructure, continuing its war crimes,“ Mr Barrot said. „It has to be ‚yes.‘ It has to be ‚no.‘ It has to be a quick answer.“
The death toll in Russian attack on Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih rose to 19 last night, including nine children, local officials said.
Photos posted online showed bodies of the dead, including elderly, and wounded lying on the pavement as grey smoke rose into the sky.
Rescue workers toiled through the night with flashlights in Kryvyi Rih, moving around wrecked cars, buildings with shattered windows and a gaping crater. Residents carried armloads of foil and timber for emergency home repairs, according to a Reuters eyewitness.
At least 50 people were wounded, the emergency services said, adding that the figure was growing. More than 30 people, including a three-month-old baby, were in hospital, said regional governor Serhiy Lysak.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed it targeted a military gathering there but did not explain the death of children and an infant.
„There were dead children lying there, crying parents, it was horrible,“ Yulia, 47, told Reuters as she surveyed the damaged blinds, fixtures and furniture in her apartment.
Britain and France on Friday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in ceasefire talks aimed at halting his country’s invasion of Ukraine and demanded a swift response from Moscow after weeks of U.S. efforts to secure a truce.
Russia has effectively rejected a U.S. proposal for a full and immediate 30-day halt in the fighting. A Kremlin official said Monday that Moscow views efforts to end its more than three-year war with Ukraine as “a drawn-out process.”
“Our judgment is that Putin continues to obfuscate, continues to drag his feet,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told reporters at NATO headquarters, standing alongside his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in a symbolic show of unity.
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Although Russia was not included in Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariff measures he unveiled earlier this week, the Kremlin is preparing to take “extra measures” minimise damage.
Moscow said it must do what it can to protect its economy from the turbulence the tariffs will bring to the global market.
„We see quite a high level of turbulence in international markets“, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. „We are hearing very unfavourable forecasts from various economists, including world-renowned economists, who are pessimistic about this latest news.“
He said that while the Russian economy was robust, thanks to the government’s efforts, „additional efforts“ would be necessary to protect it from tariff shocks. He did not specify what those efforts would be.
„Let’s just say that with a storm like this, we need to be very careful to minimise the negative effects on our economy,“ Peskov said.
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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin doesn’t want ceasefire, says Zelensky after 16 killed in drone attack – The Independent
