Ukraine war briefing: ‘Up to Zelenskyy' to reach ceasefire with Russia, says Trump after Putin summit

The Guardian

2 days ago

Donald Trump has put the onus on Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to reach a ceasefire with Russia after the US leader held direct talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska on Friday. Trump said Zelenskyy and Putin were going to set up a meeting to try to reach a ceasefire to end the war in Ukraine. 'Now, it's really up to President Zelenskyy to get it done,' Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity after his meeting with Putin. 'And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit. But it's up to President Zelenskyy … And if they'd like, I'll be at that next meeting.'
Trump said the direct talks with Putin on Friday did not yield an agreement to pause the war in Ukraine, though he claimed 'great progress' during the nearly three-hour-long summit. 'I believe we had a very productive meeting,' the US president said at a joint press conference with Putin after the talks. 'There were many, many points that we agreed on.'
Putin, speaking through an interpreter, suggested the two leaders had hammered out 'an understanding'. He said he expected Ukraine and its European allies to accept the results of the US-Russia negotiation constructively and not try to 'disrupt the emerging progress'. The Russian leader agreed that Ukraine's security must be guaranteed – but also said that the 'root causes' of the conflict must be resolved.
Zelenskyy said Russia was continuing to attack Ukraine ahead of the Trump-Putin summit, but claimed its attempt to 'show strength' with a new assault in the east had failed. 'On the day of the negotiations, they also kill people. And that says a lot,' Zelenskyy said on Telegram on Friday. 'The war continues. It continues precisely because there is no order, nor any indication that Moscow is preparing to end this war.'
Ukraine said it had conducted a long-range drone attack on a supply ship that it claims was carrying drone components from Iran, hours before the Trump-Putin summit. Photographs showed a partially sunken cargo vessel at Olya, near Astrakhan, north of the Caspian Sea. Ukraine's military claimed credit for the attack and the overnight bombing of an oil refinery at Samara on the Volga River, deep inside Russia. Ukraine's general staff said the ship was 'loaded with components' for Shahed-type drones 'and ammunition from Iran'.
Russia launched a ballistic missile into Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region hours before the Trump-Putin summit, killing one person and wounding at least one other, and causing a fire. 'A truck and a minibus were damaged in a hostile attack on the Dnipro district. A man was killed. Another person was injured,' the regional governor, Serhiy Lysak, said on Telegram. The city of Dnipro is a logistics hub for Ukrainian forces.
The Ukrainian military says it has retaken six villages in the east that Russia captured in a push this week. On Tuesday, Russia made a swift advance to the town of Dobropillia, piercing through Ukraine's defences. 'The advance of the enemy was stopped by the forces of the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine (NGU) 'Azov', together with adjacent and subordinate units, over the past three days,' Ukraine's general staff said. The town is now under constant Russian drone and shell fire.
Ukrainian military intelligence claimed that Russia is preparing to test its new nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered cruise missile and, if successful, plans to use the results to bolster its negotiating position with the west. Military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov told Reuters that Moscow saw the test as diplomatic leverage. 'Russia is preparing for another round of tests of the 9M730 Burevestnik,' his statement said. 'The purpose of these tests is to validate scientific and technical solutions implemented by the missile. If successful, Russia will leverage the test results to defend its interests in negotiations.'