By ILLIA NOVIKOV, Associated Press
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired more than 500 drones and two dozen missiles at Ukraine overnight, authorities said Wednesday, as Ukraine’s president and European leaders persevered with talks aimed at strengthening Ukrainian defenses and bringing momentum to so far unsuccessful U.S.-led peace efforts.
The main Russian nighttime targets were civilian infrastructure, especially energy facilities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as another winter approaches three years after Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor. The attacks targeted mainly western and central Ukraine and wounded at least five people, the Ukrainian air force said.
Russia’s aerial assaults that hit civilian areas and its army’s drive to crush Ukrainian defenses along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line have not abated in recent months, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempts to stop the fighting. While Zelenskyy has accepted Trump’s proposals for a ceasefire and face-to-face peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has voiced reservations.
Putin said Wednesday he believed “that if common sense prevails, it is possible to agree on an acceptable option for ending the conflict,” adding that Trump has “a sincere desire” to find a settlement.
“It seems to me that there is a certain light at the end of the tunnel,” Putin said at a press conference in Beijing, wrapping up a four-day visit to China. “Let’s see how the situation develops. If not, then we will have to achieve our goal by military means.”
He said he was ready to receive Zelenskyy for talks in Moscow, but only if the meeting is “well prepared.” Kremlin officials have previously said a summit could happen only after a broad agreement has been hammered out first by lower-raking delegations.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian leader described the overnight strikes as “demonstrative.”
“Putin is demonstrating his impunity,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram Wednesday, urging tougher sanctions on Russia. “Only due to the lack of sufficient pressure, primarily on the war economy, does Russia continue this aggression.”
Meetings in Beijing bring together Russia’s supporters
As part of diplomatic maneuvering, Putin was in China meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The three countries support Russia’s war effort, Washington says. Pyongyang has sent troops and ammunition to Russia, while China and India have bought Russian oil, indirectly helping its war economy.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief said that China’s alliance with Russia is supplying vital support for its invasion.
“Russia is not acting alone. China provides Russia with up to 80% of dual use imports,” Kaja Kallas said in a speech Wednesday at the annual European Union Institute for Security Studies conference in Brussels. “This allows the killing to continue in Ukraine.”
In his daily video address on Tuesday evening, Zelenskyy said the number of Russian drone attacks is growing, including in broad daylight, and reported “another buildup of Russian forces in some sectors of the front.”
He said it revealed “an open disregard by Russia for everything the world is doing to stop this war.”
Ukraine and its allies discuss new military aid
Zelenskyy arrived in Denmark on Tuesday for talks with Northern European and Baltic countries about new military aid and further diplomatic support for Ukraine. He said in Copenhagen that a program for weapons sourced from the United States and paid for by Europe for delivery to Ukraine already has commitments of more than $2 billion. The goal, he said, is to add around $1 billion to the fund each month.
British Defense Secretary John Healey, meanwhile, was in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv for meetings on how to strengthen Ukraine’s military.
Zelenskyy was due later Wednesday in Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, ahead of a Thursday meeting there of European countries assessing what kind of postwar security guarantees they might be able to provide with the United States.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Wednesday he expected clarity after the Paris talks about what each country can provide.
Rutte said he is “discreetly part of all the conversations” alongside NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, because the plans would draw resources from alliance countries and officials need to “prevent spreading our resources too thinly.”
Associated Press writers Sam McNeil in Brussels, Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
