Zelenskyy urges allies not to appease Russia after failing to secure US missiles | Ukraine

Ukraine’s president has called on allies not to appease Russia after returning from a trip to the United States, where he failed to secure long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy had flown to Washington hoping to capitalize on Donald Trump’s growing frustration with Vladimir Putin after a summit in Alaska failed to produce a breakthrough in the war, following weeks of calls to arms.

But the Ukrainian leader was left empty-handed as Trump set his sights on a new diplomatic effort following last week’s Gaza peace deal.

“Ukraine will never reward terrorists for their crimes, and we trust that our partners will maintain this position,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.

He called on European and American allies to take decisive action, adding that it was time for a new meeting between the European-led “coalition of the willing”.

Trump appeared much more optimistic about the prospects for a deal since his long meeting with Putin on Thursday, in which they agreed to meet soon in Budapest.

After meeting Zelenskyy at the White House, Trump said on social media that the talks “were very interesting and cordial, but as I strongly suggested to President Putin, I told him it was time to stop the killings and make a DEAL.”

On Sunday evening, the Financial Times reported that Trump warned Zelenskyy that Putin would “destroy” Ukraine unless a peace deal was reached.

“If [Putin] “He will destroy you if he wants to,” Trump said, according to European officials briefed on the meeting.

Meanwhile, Moscow has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure in recent weeks, leaving thousands without heat and light as winter approaches.

“This week alone, Russia used more than 3,270 attack aircraft, 1,370 guided aerial bombs and nearly 50 missiles of various types against Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. he said.

Two people were killed and more than a dozen others were injured in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, Kyiv said.

Ukraine has intensified its attacks on Russia’s western border regions as well as on Russia’s oil and gas facilities.

A drone strike on Sunday forced a Gazprom plant in the Orenburg region to stop refining material from an oil and gas field in neighboring Kazakhstan, Kazakh officials said.

Western oil and gas companies such as Shell, Eni and Chevron own a majority stake in the Karachaganak field, whose gas is largely refined at the Orenburg facility.

The Russian army claimed to have captured two villages in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions on Sunday.