Ukraine war briefing: Don't bomb Moscow, Trump says, after reportedly giving Zelenskyy the idea
Ukraine on Tuesday was waiting for further details of the 'billions of dollars' worth of US military equipment promised by Donald Trump, amid confusion as to how many Patriot air defence systems will be sent. On Monday, Trump said an unnamed country was ready to immediately provide '17 Patriots'. Ukraine is believed so far to possess six functioning Patriot air defence 'batteries' – the truck-based radar and launch systems that fire the missiles. It was unclear if Trump was referring to the launch systems, the interceptor missiles that are their ammunition, or whether he understood the difference.
Several European countries said they were willing to buy US arms for Ukraine as outlined by Trump but did not yet know what was being asked of them. Washington officials have suggested that European countries will give up some of their own stocks of weapons for Ukraine and then buy replacements from the US. It would get weapons to Ukraine more quickly, but leave the donor countries waiting for new systems for their own defence.
Some US lawmakers voiced concern that Trump's latest deadline – 50 days this time – for Putin to make peace gives him time to grab even more Ukrainian territory. Thom Tillis, a Republican senator from North Carolina, said: 'The 50-day delay worries me that Putin would try to use the 50 days to win the war, or to be better positioned to negotiate a peace agreement after having murdered and potentially collected more ground. Tillis and Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, lead a US Senate group that facilitates work between Congress and Nato.
Russian drones and missiles attacked widely separated areas of Ukraine, officials said in the early hours of Wednesday, with at least two people reported killed. National emergency services reported two deaths in drone strikes east of the north-eastern city of Kharkiv near the town of Kupiansk. In Kharkiv itself, the regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said at least 17 explosions were recorded in a 20-minute drone attack in which three people were injured. The head of the military administration in the south-eastern town of Kryvyi Rih, Oleksander Vilkul, said an extended missile and drones attack knocked out power and water supplies and caused injuries. The Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said air defence units had gone into action in the capital.
Earlier, a Russian attack on Tuesday afternoon killed three people in Kupiansk and Sumy, Ukrainian authorities said. Russian officials said a Ukrainian drone attack on the western city of Voronezh wounded 27 people.
The Institute for the Study of war assessed that Ukrainian forces recently advanced in northern Sumy oblast; while Russian forces recently advanced near Kupiansk, Borova, and Toretsk.
The EU was unable to approve a new package of sanctions against Russia on Tuesday as Slovakia demanded more guarantees that it would not be harmed by a separate EU plan to phase out Russian gas. The EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she was 'really sad' the sanctions did not get approved, adding that 'the ball is in Slovakia's court' and she hoped a deal could be reached on Wednesday.
Ukrainians celebrated Melania Trump on social media after Donald Trump suggested the first lady played a key role in pointing out to him Vladimir Putin's duplicity, Luke Harding writes. 'I go home, I tell the first lady: I spoke with Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation. She said: Really? Another city was just hit,' Trump said. One social media user posted a photo of 'Agent Melania Trumpenko' looking surreptitious in a big hat and wearing a blazer with Ukraine's trident insignia. Others depicted her being presented with a Ukrainian military cap and wearing the blue and yellow of Ukraine's flag.
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