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Ukraine’s president has urged allies against appeasing Russia after returning from a trip to the US, where he failed to secure long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy had flown to Washington after weeks of calls for the weaponry, hoping to capitalise on Donald Trump’s growing frustration with Vladimir Putin after a summit in Alaska failed to produce a breakthrough in the war.
But the Ukrainian leader left empty-handed as Trump eyed a fresh diplomatic effort on the back of last week’s Gaza peace deal.
“Ukraine will never grant terrorists any bounty for their crimes, and we count on our partners to uphold this very position,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.
He called for decisive steps from European and American allies, adding that it was time for another meeting between the Europe-led “coalition of the willing”.
Trump has appeared far more upbeat about the prospects of a deal since a lengthy call on Thursday with Putin, in which they agreed to meet soon in Budapest.
After meeting Zelenskyy at the White House, Trump said on social media the talks were “very interesting, and cordial, but I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL”.
On Sunday evening the Financial Times reported that Trump had warned Zelenskyy that Putin would “destroy” Ukraine unless a peace deal was in place.
“If [Putin] wants, he will destroy you,” Trump said, according to European officials briefed on the meeting.
Meanwhile, Moscow has stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure in recent weeks, leaving thousands without heating and light as winter approaches.
“This week alone, Russia has used more than 3,270 attack drones, 1,370 guided aerial bombs, and nearly 50 missiles of various types against Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
On Sunday, two people were killed and more than a dozen wounded across Ukraine’s east, Kyiv said.
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Ukraine has intensified its strikes on Russian western border regions, as well as Russia’s oil and gas facilities.
On Sunday, a drone strike forced a Gazprom plant in the Orenburg region to stop refining supplies from an oil and gas field in neighbouring Kazakhstan, Kazakh authorities said.
Western oil and gas companies such as Shell, Eni and Chevron own a majority stake in the Karachaganak field, gas from which is mostly refined at the Orenburg plant.
The Russian army on Sunday claimed to have captured two villages in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
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