The Ukrainian city of Kherson was blasted this week, killing one women, after President Volodymyr Zelensky said that air defense systems supplied by Germany and the US were “very effective.”
Zelensky highlighted the IRIS-T and Patriot drones in his nightly address Sunday, and thanked all allies who had contributed resources to Ukraine’s defenses.
Meanwhile, three people were killed and dozens more wounded in large-scale Russian air strikes that hit two western regions of Ukraine that border NATO member Poland.
The fatalities were reported in the northwestern region of Volyn. Officials said an industrial enterprise in the regional capital Lutsk was struck in the overnight attack. Several people were also hospitalized, Governor Yuriy Pohulyaiko said.
Fifteen people were also wounded in the Lviv region, Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said. Six missiles damaged dozens of buildings and a kindergarten playground in and around the regional capital. Kozytskyi said the youngest victim was 10-years-old.
Ukraine calls Saudi Arabia talks ‘productive’; Russia says they’re ‘doomed to failure’
More than 40 countries came together over the weekend in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to discuss a possible formula for bringing a peaceful conclusion to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Delegations from the United States, China and India were present for the talks, which senior Ukrainian government official Andriy Yermak described as “productive.”
The two-day meeting was part of a diplomatic push by Ukraine to build support beyond its core Western backers by reaching out to Global South countries that have been reluctant to take sides in a conflict that has hit the global economy.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who hopes to agree principles for a summit of global leaders that he is seeking on the issue in the autumn, said it would be important to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Jeddah meeting.
Speaking on Saturday, he acknowledged there were differences among the countries attending, but said the rules-based international order must be restored.
“Different continents, different political approaches to world affairs. But all are united by the priority of international law,” he said.
Russia did not attend, though the Kremlin has said it would keep an eye on the talks. Ukrainian, Russian and international officials say there is no prospect of direct peace talks between Ukraine and Russia at present, with the war still raging.
A European Union official said there would be no joint statement after the meeting, but that the Saudis would present a plan for further talks, with working groups to discuss issues such as global food security, nuclear safety and prisoner releases.
The official described the talks as positive, and said there was “agreement that respect of territorial integrity and (the) sovereignty of Ukraine needs to be at the heart of any peace settlement”.
The world’s top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, which has maintained contacts with both sides since Russia invaded Ukraine last February, has played a role in convening countries that did not join earlier meetings, Western diplomats have said.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister said the West’s efforts to mobilize the international community to support a peace deal are “doomed to failure,” according to state-owned media agency Tass.
China says Saudi Arabia talks helped ‘consolidate international consensus’
Weekend talks about a peace formula for Russia’s war in Ukraine helped “consolidate international consensus,” Reuters reported China’s Foreign Ministry as saying.
China, which did not attend a previous round of talks in Copenhagen, this time sent Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui. China has kept close economic and diplomatic ties with Russia since the conflict began, and has rejected calls to condemn Moscow.
“We have many disagreements and we have heard different positions, but it is important that our principles are shared,” he said.
Russia says a peace settlement only possible if Kyiv lays down its arms
Russia says a peace settlement in Ukraine is only possible if Kyiv lays down its arms, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
A solution to the conflict will only be found if the “the Kiev regime puts an end to military activities and terrorist attacks, while its Western sponsors stop pumping the Ukrainian armed forces with weapons,” Zakharova was quoted as saying by state news agency Tass.
“The original foundations of Ukraine’s sovereignty should be reaffirmed, that is, its neutral, non-aligned and nuclear-weapon-free status,” she said.
Top Ukrainian presidential adviser says there can be no compromise with Russia
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said there can be no compromise measures with Russia as those could give it more time to entrench its forces’ positions in occupied territories.
“There can be no compromise positions such as ‘immediate ceasefires’ and ‘negotiations here and now’ that give Russia time to stay in the occupied territories,” Podolyak wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Only the withdrawal of Russian troops to the 1991 border.”
He added that any compromise agreement would lead to prolonged war in the future. Some neutral countries have called for a compromise settlement between the warring parties that would see Ukraine cede a portion of territory to Russia; Kyiv has wholeheartedly rejected that, saying there will be no peace until Moscow withdraws from internationally-recognized Ukrainian land.
Compiled by Ana Dumbadze
