Zelenskyy presents to drop NATO bid for safety ensures

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BERLIN (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday voiced readiness to drop his nation’s bid to affix NATO in alternate for Western safety ensures, however rejected the U.S. push for ceding territory to Russia as he arrived in Berlin for talks with U.S. envoys on ending the conflict.

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Zelenskyy arrived on the Chancellery forward of the anticipated talks with U.S. President Donald Trump’s particular envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, a part of a collection of conferences in Berlin between Ukrainian, U.S. and European officers.

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Responding to journalists’ questions in audio clips on a WhatsApp group chat earlier than the talks, Zelenskyy stated that because the U.S. and a few European nations had rejected Ukraine’s push to affix NATO, Kyiv expects the West to supply a set of ensures much like these provided to the alliance members.

“These safety ensures are a possibility to forestall one other wave of Russian aggression,” he stated. “And that is already a compromise on our half.”

Zelenskyy emphasised that any safety assurances would must be legally binding and supported by the U.S. Congress, including that he anticipated an replace from his crew following a gathering between Ukrainian and U.S. army officers in Stuttgart, Germany.

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He stated that he’ll meet individually with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and, presumably, different European leaders later within the night.

Washington has tried for months to navigate the calls for of every aspect as Trump presses for a swift finish to Russia’s conflict and grows more and more exasperated by delays. The seek for doable compromises has run into main obstacles, together with management of Ukraine’s japanese Donetsk area, which is usually occupied by Russian forces.

Tough obstacles stay

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin needs Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the a part of the Donetsk area nonetheless underneath its management among the many key circumstances for peace, a requirement rejected by Kyiv.

Zelenskyy stated that the U.S. had floated an thought for Ukraine to withdraw from the Donetsk and create a demilitarized free financial zone there, a proposal he rejected as unworkable.

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“I don’t contemplate this honest, as a result of who will handle this financial zone?” he stated. “If we’re speaking about some buffer zone alongside the road of contact, if we’re speaking about some financial zone and we imagine that solely a police mission needs to be there and troops ought to withdraw, then the query could be very easy. If Ukrainian troops withdraw 5_10 kilometres, for instance, then why do Russian troops not withdraw deeper into the occupied territories by the identical distance?”

Zelenskyy described the difficulty as “very delicate” and insisted on a freeze alongside the road of contact, saying that “right this moment a good doable possibility is we stand the place we stand.”

Putin’s international affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov advised the enterprise every day Kommersant that Russian police and nationwide guard would keep in components of the Donetsk area even when they develop into a demilitarized zone underneath a potential peace plan.

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Ushakov warned {that a} seek for compromise may take a very long time, noting that the U.S. proposals that took under consideration Russian calls for had been “worsened” by alterations proposed by Ukraine and its European allies.

Speaking to Russian state TV in remarks broadcast Sunday, Ushakov stated that “the contribution of Ukrainians and Europeans to those paperwork is unlikely to be constructive,” warning that Moscow will “have very sturdy objections.”

Ushakov added that the territorial situation was actively mentioned in Moscow when Witkoff and Kushner met with Putin earlier this month. “The Americans know and perceive our place,” he stated.

Merz, who has spearheaded European efforts to help Ukraine alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and U.Okay. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, stated Saturday that “the many years of the ‘Pax Americana’ are largely over for us in Europe and for us in Germany as nicely.”

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He warned that Putin’s purpose is “a basic change to the borders in Europe, the restoration of the outdated Soviet Union inside its borders.”

“If Ukraine falls, he received’t cease,” Merz warned on Saturday throughout a celebration convention in Munich.

Putin has denied plans to revive the Soviet Union or assault any European allies.

Russia and Ukraine alternate aerial assaults

Ukraine’s air power stated that Russia in a single day launched ballistic missiles and 138 assault drones at Ukraine. The air power stated 110 had been intercepted or downed, however missile and drone hits have been recorded at six places.

Zelenskyy stated Sunday that a whole bunch of hundreds of households have been nonetheless with out energy within the south, east and northeast areas and work was persevering with to revive electrical energy, warmth and water to a number of areas following a large-scale assault the earlier evening.

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The Ukrainian president stated that previously week, Russia had launched over 1,500 strike drones, practically 900 guided aerial bombs and 46 missiles of varied varieties at Ukraine.

“Ukraine wants peace on first rate phrases, and we’re able to work as constructively as doable. These days will probably be crammed with diplomacy. It’s crucial that it brings outcomes,” Zelenskyy stated.

Russia’s Defence Ministry stated that air defences downed 235 Ukrainian drones late Saturday and early Sunday.

In the Belgorod area, a drone injured a person and set his home ablaze within the village of Yasnye Zori, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov stated.

Ukrainian drones struck an oil depot in Uryupinsk within the Volgograd area, triggering a fireplace, in accordance with regional Gov. Andrei Bocharov.

In the Krasnodar area, the Ukrainian drones attacked the city of Afipsky, the place an oil refinery is situated. Authorities stated that explosions shattered home windows in residential buildings, however didn’t report any injury to the refinery.

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