Russia insists on achieving Ukraine goals despite Trump's ultimatum
Peskov and other Russian officials have repeatedly rejected accusations from Kyiv and its Western partners of stalling peace talks. Meanwhile, Moscow continues to intensify its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities, launching more drones in a single night than it did during some entire months in 2024, and analysts say the barrages are likely to escalate.
Russian President Vladimir Putin 'has repeatedly spoken of his desire to bring the Ukrainian settlement to a peaceful conclusion as soon as possible. This is a long process, it requires effort, and it is not easy,' Peskov told state television in an interview.
'The main thing for us is to achieve our goals," he said. 'Our goals are clear.'
The Kremlin has insisted that any peace deal should see Ukraine withdraw from the four regions that Russia illegally annexed in September 2022, but never fully captured. It also wants Ukraine to renounce its bid to join NATO and accept strict limits on its armed forces — demands Kyiv and its Western allies have rejected.
In his nightly address on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his officials have proposed a new round of peace talks this week. Russian state media on Sunday reported that no date has yet been set for the negotiations, but said that Istanbul would likely remain the host city.
Truce or sanctions
Trump threatened Russia on July 14 with steep tariffs and announced a rejuvenated pipeline for American weapons to reach Ukraine, hardening his stance toward Moscow after months of frustration following unsuccessful negotiations aimed at ending the war. The direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Istanbul resulted in several rounds of prisoner exchanges but little else.
The U.S. president said that he would implement 'severe tariffs' unless a peace deal is reached within 50 days. He provided few details on how they would be implemented, but suggested they would target Russia's trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow in the global economy.
In addition, Trump said that European allies would buy 'billions and billions' of dollars of U.S. military equipment to be transferred to Ukraine, replenishing the besieged country's supplies of weapons. Included in the plan are Patriot air defense systems, a top priority for Ukraine as it fends off Russian drones and missiles.
Doubts were recently raised about Trump's commitment to supply Ukraine when the Pentagon paused shipments over concerns that U.S. stockpiles were running low.
Drone strikes
Elsewhere, Ukraine's air force said that it shot down 18 of 57 Shahed-type and decoy drones launched by Russia overnight into Sunday, with seven more disappearing from radar.
Two women were wounded in Zaporizhzhia, a southern Ukrainian region partly occupied by Russia, when a drone struck their house, according to the regional military administration. Two more civilians were wounded in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv province, after a drone slammed into a residential building, local Ukrainian officials said.
Later Sunday, drones struck a leafy square in the center of Sumy, wounding a woman and her 7-year-old son, officials said. The strike also damaged a power line, leaving around 100 households without electricity, according to Serhii Krivosheienko, of the municipal military administration.
Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said that its forces shot down 93 Ukrainian drones targeting Russian territory overnight, including at least 15 that appeared to head for Moscow. At least 13 more drones were downed on the approach to the capital on Sunday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. One drone struck a residential building in Zelenograd, on the outskirts of Moscow, damaging an apartment, but caused no casualties, he said.
___
Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
The Associated Press
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Ten civilians killed in Ukraine, while Zelensky says troops fend off major Russian advance on frontline regions
Russia pummeled Ukraine overnight, killing 10 and injuring as many as 61 civilians, in part of a ramped up aerial campaign to advance strongman Vladimir Putin's war into the Eastern European country. The Kremlin targeted Ukraine's frontline regions with 208 drones and 27 missiles Saturday. In the southern Dnipro region, at least three Ukrainians were killed and six others wounded in the barrage, local officials on the ground reported. 7 At least three people died in the attack on Dnipro overnight. REUTERS The strikes shattered windows in a residential building, torched cars — and on the outskirts of the city flames engulfed an obliterated shopping center obliterated by a Russian missile, causing an apocalyptic-like scene on the streets of the war-torn country. The Kremlin targeted Ukraine's frontline regions with 208 drones and 27 missiles, according to officials. 'A scary night. A massive attack on the region,' Serhiy Lysak, Dnipro's regional governor, said on Telegram. 7 A shopping mall was hit by a Russian missile strike in Dnipro. REUTERS In the northeastern Sumy region, another person was killed and three others injured, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said troops blocked Russian troops from gaining ground deeper into the battleground region. Russia opened a new front in Sumy in early June, deploying 50,000 troops — three times the size of Kyiv's forces in the key battleground — and capturing around a dozen border villages. The region, a priority for the Kremlin, continues to face near-daily strikes. But, up until this point, Ukrainian forces have managed to maintain control over a bulk of the region. 7 A building in Sumy hit by a Russian drone overnight. REUTERS Meanwhile, Kharkiv faced a sustained aerial bombardment on Saturday. Ukraine's second-largest city was pounded by four guided aerial bombs, two ballistic missiles and 15 drones over a three-hour period. As many as 29 people were injured, including a child, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. 7 Ukrainians clear debris and replace broken windows at a residential building hit in Kharkiv. Getty Images The offensive inflicted damage on high-rise apartment buildings, roadways and communication networks in the area. Four of the injured were first responders — hit in a second strike targeting emergency crews helping help people wounded in the initial attack, Ukraine's State Emergency Situations Service said. 7 Rescuers tried to protect residents as they take shelter inside a basement of a residential building during the Russian drone strike on Kharkiv. via REUTERS Zelensky vowed swift retaliation. 'Russian military enterprises, Russian logistics, and Russian airports should feel that Russia's own war is now hitting them back with real consequences,' he posted on X. 'There can be absolutely no silence in response to such strikes, and Ukrainian long-range drones ensure this.' 7 In all, at least ten people died overnight in Ukraine, as the Kremlin continued to pound on the country. X/ZelenskyyUa Zelensky also said Saturday he received a report from the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service claiming sanctions have significantly slowed Russia's economic potential. He also said Kyiv's drone production this year will exceed projections from January. Some of those drones targeted multiple regions in Russia, as Ukraine's attacks on Moscow have heated up in recent months along the more than 620-mile frontline of the war. 7 At least 61 Ukrainians were wounded overnight in the Russian attacks. X/ZelenskyyUa A drone attack on the Rostov region, near the Ukrainian border, killed two people, officials reported. Another strike hit an unspecified industrial facility in the neighboring Stavropol region. Drones also targeted Moscow but were shot down, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported. Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down or intercepted 54 of Kyiv's drones in total overnight. The more than three-year-old war continued to rage on this week as both sides ended a failed third round of cease-fire talks in less than an hour Wednesday — but agreed to another planned prisoner swap. With wires
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Russian parliament approves a bill punishing online searches for information deemed 'extremist'
MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian parliament's upper house on Friday quickly approved a bill that punishes online searches for information officially branded 'extremist,' the latest in a series of moves by authorities to tighten control of the internet. The legislation makes what it describes as 'deliberately searching for and accessing extremist materials' online punishable by a fine of up to the equivalent of $64. The bill, which was endorsed by the lower house earlier this week, is now set to be signed into law by President Vladimir Putin. The official definition of extremist activity is extremely broad and includes opposition groups like the Anti-Corruption Foundation, created by the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and the 'international LGBT movement.' It's not clear how authorities will track down violators. Officials and lawmakers said ordinary internet users won't be affected and only those who methodically seek outlawed content will be targeted. They didn't explain how authorities would differentiate between them. Russians widely use VPN services for access to banned content, but authorities have sought to tighten restrictions and close the loopholes. The state communications watchdog has increasingly used technology to analyze traffic and block specific VPN protocols. Russian authorities have ramped up their multipronged crackdown on dissent after sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, online censorship and prosecutions for social media posts and comments have soared. Multiple independent news outlets and rights groups have been shut down, labeled as 'foreign agents' or outlawed as 'undesirable.' Hundreds of activists and critics of the Kremlin have faced criminal charges. Solve the daily Crossword


Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
Lt. Col. Darin Gaub calls to 'defeat and eradicate' Hamas as ceasefire talks break down
Senior geopolitical strategist Lt. Col. Darin Gaub joins 'Fox News Live' to weigh in on President Donald Trump's push for ceasefires in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war.