While Kyiv has been notching military victories on the battlefield and increasingly striking targets deep in Russian territory, Moscow continues to attack Ukraine with dozens of ballistic missiles as the latter scrambles to shore up its dwindling air defenses.
The latest attack on Monday, just before the summit, killed at least 22 people and wounded over 90 in Kyiv alone, with Zelenskyy admitting a lack of PAC-3 interceptors meant Ukraine did not shoot down even one of 20 ballistic missiles launched at it. He urged partner nations to deplete their stocks for Kyiv.
Rutte condemned the attack and urged allies to provide everything Ukraine needs.
“Putin is willing to sacrifice up to 35,000 of his own men, which is crazy on the battlefield. Can you imagine what an impact that has on all those families?” he added, urging Russians to think twice before joining the army.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said in a video statement posted to the Kremlin’s Telegram channel Monday that Russia would prefer to solve “the Ukraine conflict” in a diplomatic manner, and hoped Donald Trump’s team of negotiators would soon renew its efforts at peace talks, praising the U.S. president’s consistent position on the conflict.
Zelenskyy is planning to meet Trump on the sidelines of the NATO Summit to discuss air defense supplies and next steps to force Putin to the negotiating table, a top official familiar with the talks told POLITICO.
“Well, I think he[Putin] does feel pressure. He wants to end it, and Ukraine wants to end it. And we’re in talks, and we will see if we can get it ended,” Trump told reporters on Monday.
“I think we’re getting much closer to end than most realize. President Putin wants it to end, and President Zelenskyy actually wants it to end now. And we’re going to NATO, and we’re going to talk about.”