US sending special envoy after weapons deliveries resumed, says Ukraine
In his nightly address on Friday evening, Ukraine's leader said that US aid shipments had been restored, following the Pentagon's decision to briefly halt the delivery of certain weapons to Kyiv.
'We have received political signals at the highest level – good signals – including from the United States, from our European friends,' he said.
Zelenskyy added that his country was working with its allies 'on new supplies, increased weapons production in Ukraine and better support for our army'.
'Next week, we will continue working with the US side on a military level, including between our military and General Kellogg,' he said.
At the start of July, the Trump administration paused shipments of weapons to Ukraine, including air defence missiles, over fears that its own stockpiles were dwindling.
The halt coincided with a spike in Russia's aerial bombardment of Ukraine, with Moscow's military firing 728 drones and 13 missiles against it on Wednesday, the largest daily total in more than three years of war.
The US military aid pause also came as Ukraine suffered its highest number of monthly civilian casualties in the entire war. In June, 232 people were killed and 1,343 injured, according to the human rights mission in Ukraine.
After announcing earlier this week that the US would resume shipments to Kyiv, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that his country was sending weapons to NATO, which could then be sent on to Ukraine by its member states.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on Friday that European nations could give some of their military supplies to Kyiv and order replacements from the US.
'It's a lot faster to move something, for example, from Germany to Ukraine than it is to order it from a [US] factory and get it there,' Rubio said during a visit to Malaysia.
Meanwhile, on the front line, the Russian military struck Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa on Friday morning, injuring at least eight people, according to Ukrainian local officials.
Overnight Russian attacks on eastern Ukraine also injured nine and forced the evacuation of a maternity centre in Kharkiv, President Zelenskyy said.
Drone attacks, shelling
Meanwhile, Russian officials noted that Ukrainian drone and shelling attacks had killed three people in the Russian regions of Belgorod, Lipetsk and Tula on Friday.
The Ukrainian military said on Telegram that it had targeted a Russian fighter aircraft plant in the Moscow region and a missile production facility in the Tula region on Friday.
Both drone attacks caused explosions and fires, Ukraine added.
The US's decision to resume aid deliveries to Ukraine comes as Trump has signalled a growing impatience with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Amid an apparent thaw in relations, Rubio met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Malaysia on Friday. 'We are talking, and that is a start,' Rubio said.
Lavrov later travelled to North Korea to hold talks. Pyongyang has been an important backer of Moscow, sending thousands of troops to Russia to help it in its war against Ukraine.
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