President Vodimir Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukrainian troops are still resisting Russian and North Korean forces in Russia's Kursk region but are facing new attacks on the Sumi region in northeast Ukraine.
Military analysts say Russia is almost close to expelling Ukrainian troops from its months-long foothold in western Russia, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to warn that thousands of people are “completely surrounded.”
Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media after being introduced by his top general that the troops in Kiev were not surrounded by Kursk, but that Moscow had accumulated troops nearby for a separate strike.
“This shows an intention to attack our Sumi area,” he said. “We know this and will fight.”
“I want all [our] The partners understand exactly what Putin is planning, why he is preparing and what he will ignore. ”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he supported Trump's proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine, but would continue to fight until several key conditions were formulated.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer needs to increase pressure on Putin to accept a ceasefire at a meeting of European leaders and other allies on Saturday.
At the end of the virtual meeting with allies, Starmer called it a “coal of willingness”, he said the “jitter and delay” of the Kremlin's proposal for a ceasefire against Trump, and the “continuous barbaric attack” of Russia on Ukraine, “totally opposed Princip's desire to be peaceful.
Participating in the call were leaders of 25 countries, including Prime Minister Mark Carney. Other countries include France, Italy, Ukraine, Australia and New Zealand, as well as officials from NATO and EU executives. The United States did not attend the conference.
Starmer said Britain could send peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire agreement was reached, but he called on Washington to provide a safe “backstage” to these troops, a measure he believes is crucial to prevent Putin from attacking again.
He told participants at a meeting on Saturday that they must also be prepared to defend any deals.
“This means strengthening Ukraine so that they can defend themselves… in terms of military capabilities, in terms of funding, in terms of further support provided by all of us, [and] Secondly, be prepared to defend any deals you have through a willing alliance. ” he said.
“Russia is prolonging the war”
“The accumulation of Russian forces shows that Moscow intends to continue to ignore diplomacy,” Zelenskyy added. “It is obvious that Russia is prolonging the war.”
In his statement, he also said that the strategic and strategic battlefield situation in Ukrovsk was “stable” and that Ukraine successfully used a new domestically produced long-range missile in combat.
Kiev is seeking to expand its domestic defense industry to lift itself out of Western allies that provide critical artillery, air defense and long-range strike capabilities.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine's new Long Neptune missile has a range of 1,000 kilometers.
