Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced this Saturday that Russia has launched more than 1,300 suicide drones, nearly 900 guided aerial bombs and up to 50 missiles against the country since the beginning of September, despite publicly stating that he is willing to seek an end to the war.
The president said that civilian infrastructure was again attacked by Russia last night and that, in total, during the first week of this month, the Russians attacked the regions of Chernihiv, Kharkov, Odessa, Kherson, Kyiv, Zaporizhia, Dnipro, Kirovohrad, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr, Volhynia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne, and Lviv.
“The explosions resonated in practically all regions of Ukraine,” he said.
“Russia continues to prolong this war and seeks to turn diplomacy into an absolute farce. And this must be met with a united response: against attacks and destruction, against contempt for diplomatic efforts and civilized dialogue,” Zelensky said.
He said that U.S. President Donald Trump “is absolutely right” when he says that effective restrictions on Russian oil and gas trade are needed to get diplomacy back on track.
“We must strengthen the pressure of sanctions, increase arms supplies to Ukraine, and ensure that invasions like this cannot happen again in the future. A lasting peace requires real and functional security guarantees,” he said, referring to his ongoing negotiations with Western partners on a new sanctions package and subsequent support for a ceasefire to ensure its implementation.
Ukraine shot down 68 of 91 suicide drones launched by Russia.
Ukrainian air defenses have shot down 68 drones out of a total of 91 launched by Russia over the country in the last few hours, according to the daily report of the Ukrainian Air Force.
According to this Saturday's bulletin, last night Russia attacked Ukraine with Shahed-type attack drones and decoy drones of various types from Russian territory.
Most of the drones were shot down by aviation, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare units and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
However, 18 attack drones were recorded hitting eight locations and fragments of downed drones fell in four.
Zelensky rejected Putin's proposal to meet in Russia
In other news, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin's proposal to meet in Moscow and made a counteroffer for the Russian leader to visit kyiv.
In an interview with ABC News, he said: “He (Putin) can come to kyiv. I can’t go to Moscow when my country is under rocket attacks every day. I can’t go to this terrorist’s capital. Putin understands.” The president said that Putin’s proposal was actually intended to postpone the meeting.
Zelensky reiterated that he is “ ready to meet in any format ” and accused Putin of “ playing with the United States .”
"If someone doesn't want to join us during the war, of course, they can offer something that might not be acceptable to me or others," he added.
The Ukrainian president made the remarks while touring and sitting at a US-owned manufacturing plant in western Ukraine, which was recently targeted by a Russian missile attack.
During an economic forum in Vladivostok, in Russia's far east, Putin expressed his willingness to meet Zelensky in Moscow: “If Zelensky is ready, let him come to Moscow.”
"The Ukrainian side wants and proposes this meeting. I've already said: 'I'm willing, please come, we fully and completely guarantee working conditions and safety. The guarantee is 100%,'" the Russian president stated.
The idea of a direct meeting between the two leaders stems from efforts by US President Donald Trump. In August, Trump told Fox News, “Eventually, I’m going to put them both in a room,” adding that a trilateral meeting between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine was the goal of their summit in Alaska.
