Zelenskyy: Putin 'tries to portray himself as mediator' while attacking Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for attacking Ukraine's energy infrastructure while trying to "portray himself as a mediator" for the Iran-Israel conflict.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russian forces attacked Ukraine with 11 missiles and 183 drones from Saturday night through Sunday.
Zelenskyy said in a video address on Sunday that Russian attacks damaged energy facilities in Kremenchuk in the central Ukrainian region of Poltava. He accused Russia of targeting civilian infrastructure.
He said Russia used Iranian drones to attack the energy facilities "to complicate the work of our air defense systems."
On Saturday, Putin spoke with US President Donald Trump by phone and offered Russia's mediation to ease tensions between Israel and Iran.
Zelenskyy said, "Putin tries to portray himself as a mediator for the Middle East and attempts to somehow assist his accomplices in Tehran."
The Russian defense ministry said its forces launched a strike on an oil refinery in the city of Kremenchuk, which it said supplies fuel to the Ukrainian military in the Donbas region.
The Associated Press and other media outlets report that Zelenskyy told reporters on Friday he is concerned that US military support, such as the provision of air-defense systems, might go to Israel rather than to Ukraine.
The question now is how the situation in the Middle East would impact Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Times
44 minutes ago
- Japan Times
Netanyahu says 'changing face of Middle East' as Israel and Iran trade blows
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel's campaign against Iran was "changing the face of the Middle East," as the two countries traded heavy strikes for a fifth day early Tuesday. Netanyahu's remarks Monday came hours after a dramatic attack on an Iranian state TV building, which forced a presenter to flee midbroadcast and prompted a threat of retaliation against Israeli news channels. After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel launched a surprise aerial campaign against Iran last week, with the stated aim of preventing Tehran from acquiring atomic weapons — an ambition it denies. The sudden flare-up has sparked fears of a wider conflict, with U.S. President Donald Trump urging Iran back to the negotiating table after Israel's attacks derailed ongoing nuclear talks. While Trump has maintained that Washington has "nothing to do" with its ally's campaign, he issued an extraordinary warning on Monday for all residents of Tehran to "immediately evacuate" — echoing a narrower warning by Israel's army for people to flee the capital district where the TV station was later hit. Israel's strikes have killed at least 224 people, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians, according to Iranian authorities. Netanyahu told a news conference Monday evening that Israel was eliminating Iran's security leadership "one after the other." "We are changing the face of the Middle East, and that can lead to radical changes inside Iran itself," he said. Smoke billows from an explosion on Monday in Tehran, where Iran's state broadcaster was briefly knocked off the air by an Israeli strike. | AFP-JIJI Iran has launched several waves of missiles in retaliation for Israel's attacks, with Iran's Revolutionary Guard boasting Monday evening that the attacks would continue "without interruption until dawn." Inhabitants of Tel Aviv were briefly told to seek shelter early Tuesday, a day after Iranian strikes on multiple Israeli cities pushed the death toll above two dozen in Israel. Earlier, the live feed of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) was interrupted when an Israeli strike hit its Tehran building Monday. The presenter was in the midst of lambasting Israel when an explosion rocked the facility, causing the monitors behind her to cut out and sending debris raining from the ceiling. Prior to the strike, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Iran's "propaganda and incitement megaphone is about to disappear." IRIB resumed its broadcast shortly after the strike, with a senior official at the service saying "the voice of the Islamic Revolution ... will not be silenced with a military operation." Iran later "issued an evacuation warning for the N12 and N14 channels of Israel," state TV reported, calling the order a "response to the hostile attack" on IRIB. Iranian missiles struck Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva and Haifa on Monday, leaving behind shattered homes, smouldering wreckage and stunned residents picking through debris. "I have four children, four boys. We're very scared, but everyone is OK," said Idan Bar, whose building in Petah Tikva was among those hit. Ultra-Orthodox Jews look at the site of a missile attack from Iran in Bnei Brak, Israel, on Monday. | REUTERS U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said a nearby missile strike lightly damaged a building used by the American embassy in Tel Aviv, while the U.S. State Department warned citizens on Monday not to travel to Israel due to security concerns. The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was also leaving Southeast Asia on Monday after cancelling plans to dock in Vietnam, amid reports it was headed to the Middle East to boost the U.S. presence there. International calls for calm have mounted. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters at the Group of Seven summit in the Canadian Rockies on Monday that he believed his fellow leaders were united in wanting de-escalation, adding the "risk of the conflict escalating is obvious." French President Emmanuel Macron called for both sides to "end" strikes on civilians and warned that aiming to overthrow Tehran's clerical state would be a "strategic error." China called on Israel and Iran to both "immediately take measures to cool down the tensions" and avoid plunging the region into deeper turmoil. Trump had initially urged Iran to come back to the negotiating table, but then wrote on his Truth Social platform: "Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!" Shortly afterward, the White House said Trump would return to Washington, cutting short his stay at the G7 summit and hinting at greater U.S. involvement in the conflict. The United States and Iran had engaged in several rounds of indirect talks on Tehran's nuclear program in recent weeks, but Iran said after the start of Israel's campaign that it would not negotiate while under attack. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that "absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue." "It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu. That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy," he wrote on X. A senior U.S. official said Trump had intervened to prevent Israel from carrying out an assassination of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But Netanyahu did not rule out the possibility when asked about the reports during an interview with ABC News. "It's not going to escalate the conflict, it's going to end the conflict," he said.
NHK
2 hours ago
- NHK
Israel strikes Iranian state broadcaster
An Israeli strike on Monday hit the Iranian state broadcaster in Tehran. The move came after Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people in the middle of the Iranian capital to evacuate. Iranian media showed footage of the attack during live broadcasting. A news presenter can be seen hurrying off camera as dust and debris fly through the air. Israeli forces said they targeted a "communication center that was being used for military purposes." The IDF also said on Monday that they separately killed four senior Iranian intelligence officials, and have destroyed over 120 missile launchers, or about one-third of the Iranian arsenal. The Iranian health ministry said over 1,800 people have been injured since Israel started attacking the country on Friday, and more than 200 killed. It said most of the casualties are civilians. Iran has retaliated with its own strikes. The Israeli government said that more than 370 missiles had been launched, with 30 making impact. They also said 24 people have been killed, and nearly 600 injured. Iranian media said the country's revolutionary guards have called on people living in Tel Aviv to evacuate. It also quoted a senior official as saying, "Iran is prepared for a full-scale war." US President Donald Trump called on the two sides to come to the table, saying: "They have to make a deal. And it's painful for both parties. But I'd say Iran is not winning this war and they should talk and they should talk immediately before it's too late." Trump and other leaders from the G7 nations began their annual summit in Canada. Reuters reports they have drafted several documents, including one that calls for de-escalating the Israel-Iran conflict, but that Trump has not signed off on it.
Japan Times
4 hours ago
- Japan Times
Iranian state broadcaster hit as Iran urges Trump to make Israel halt war
An Israeli strike hit Iran's state broadcaster on Monday while the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog indicated extensive damage to Iran's biggest uranium enrichment plant and Iran called on the U.S. to force a ceasefire in the aerial war. Late on Monday, Israel said it hit Iran's broadcasting authority, and footage showed a newsreader hurrying from her seat as a blast struck. Israel's military said the building also served as a communications center used by Iran's armed forces. The conflict entered its fifth day on Tuesday, with air raid sirens sounding in Tel Aviv shortly after midnight as Iran launched additional missiles toward Israel. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told four European counterparts that Iran was serious about diplomacy but its current focus was on confronting aggression, Iranian state media reported. Israel has said its goal is to eliminate Tehran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran says more than 224 Iranians have been killed, most of them civilians. Israel says 24 people have been killed, all of them civilians. Sources said that Tehran had asked Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to press U.S. President Donald Trump to use his influence on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push for an immediate ceasefire. In return, Iran would show flexibility in nuclear negotiations, said the two Iranian and three regional sources. "If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential," Araqchi said on X. "Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue. It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu." Asked if he would agree to talks should Trump want that, Netanyahu told reporters that Israel was committed to removing the threats of both nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. "If this can be achieved in another way — fine. But we gave it a 60-day chance," Netanyahu said. On Friday, the first day of Israel's assault, Trump said he had given the Iranians 60 days to come to an agreement to halt uranium enrichment and that the time had expired with no deal. Talks between the United States and Iran, hosted by Oman, had been scheduled for Sunday but were scrapped, with Tehran saying it could not negotiate while under attack. Iranian media said Iran was preparing for the "largest and most intense missile attack" yet against Israel, including against military and intelligence targets. Nantanz damage Israel launched its air war with a surprise attack that killed nearly the entire top echelon of Iran's military commanders and its leading nuclear scientists. It says it now has control of Iranian airspace and intends to escalate the campaign in coming days. Israel said it hit Iranian F-14 fighter planes at Tehran airport on Monday, and its airstrikes have also put at least two of Iran's three operating uranium enrichment plants out of action. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the BBC on Monday it was very likely all the roughly 15,000 centrifuges operating at Iran's biggest uranium enrichment plant at Natanz were badly damaged or destroyed because of a power cut caused by an Israeli strike. There had been very limited or no damage at the separate Fordow plant, he said. Tehran for the first time in decades of shadow war and proxy conflict fired missiles from Iran that pierced Israeli defences in significant numbers and killed Israelis in their homes. Ultra Orthodox Jews look at the site of a missile attack from Iran in Bnei Brak, Israel, on Monday. | REUTERS Round-the-clock television images showed Israeli rescuers working in ruins of flattened homes. Almost 3,000 people have been evacuated from their homes since Iranian strikes began, leaving 24 buildings slated for demolition, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told reporters. Iranian state TV broadcast scenes of collapsed presidential buildings, burned-out cars, and shattered streets in Tehran. Many residents were trying to flee the capital, describing queues for petrol and bank machines that were out of cash. "I am desperate. My two children are scared and cannot sleep at night because of the sound of air defense and attacks, explosions. But we have nowhere to go. We hid under our dining table," Gholamreza Mohammadi, 48, a civil servant, said by phone from Tehran. Trump has consistently said the Israeli assault could end quickly if Iran agrees to U.S. demands that it accept strict curbs to its nuclear program. "As I've been saying, I think a deal will be signed, or something will happen, but a deal will be signed, and I think Iran is foolish not to sign," Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada. "I think Iran is basically at the negotiating table," he said without elaborating. On Monday, Iranian lawmakers floated the idea of quitting the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, a move bound to be seen as a setback for any negotiations. Iran has always said its nuclear program is peaceful, although the IAEA declared last week that Tehran was in violation of its obligations. 'Paying the price' Before dawn on Monday, Iranian missiles struck Tel Aviv and Haifa, killing at least eight people and destroying homes. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the latest attack employed a new method that caused Israel's multi-layered defense systems to target each other so missiles could get through. Israel's Haifa-based Bazan energy group said its power station had been significantly damaged in an attack that killed three employees and forced its refinery facilities to shut down. Oil prices slipped $1 per barrel on Monday in volatile trading after reports that Iran is seeking an end to hostilities, raising the possibility of a truce and easing fears of a disruption to regional crude supplies. The sudden killing of so many Iranian military commanders and the apparent loss of control of airspace could prove to be the biggest test of Iran's system of clerical rule since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
