Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Contributor
Topics: Ukraine, Russia, Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin
Gerrard Kaonga
Topics: Ukraine, Russia, Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin
Tensions remain high as Russia launched a new attack on Ukraine on Saturday ahead of major peace talks.
Donald Trump is set to be Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on December 28 in hopes of bringing the war between Ukraine and Russia to an end.
The conflict has been ongoing for almost four years and it is unclear how successful these talks are set to be.
Speaking to Axios, Zelensky has said he is willing to hold a referendum on peace plan but for this to happen Moscow must agree to a ceasefire of at least 60 days.
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However, Zelensky also said he is not yet convinced that Russia will engage with Trump’s peace plan.
Speaking to the outlet, he added: “I have some intelligence ... but I'm at the moment when I want to believe only the words of leaders.”
Trump, speaking to Politico on Friday, has added that Zelensky ‘doesn't have anything until I approve it’ but he is anticipating a good meeting on Sunday.
Ahead of this meeting, Russia launched an attack in the early hours of Saturday morning that resulted in NATO fighter jets being scrambled.
Kyiv was targeted by missiles and drones while regions in the north-east and south of the country also came under attack.
As a result, Poland scrambled its fighter jets, seemingly as a precautionary measure.
They also closed two airports that are in south-eastern Poland Rzeszów and Lublin, as they reside close to the border with Ukraine.
The fighter jets were reportedly scrambled around 2 am with their mission ending around 7 am.
According to an express report, The head of Kyiv's City Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, has said two multistorey residential blocks in different areas of the city had been hit.
Ukraine's Emergency Service also reported strikes on industrial and residential buildings in the wider Kyiv region.
This is the second time NATO jets have been scrambled following actions from Russia.
On Boxing day, Romania, a NATO state, had to scramble its own jets from the 86th Air Base in Feteșt following drone targeted energy and port infrastructure facilities in Odesa and the surrounding region close to the estuary of the Danube River.
In an official statement, Romania stated: “The air surveillance system of the Ministry of National Defence identified groups of drones launched by the Russian Federation towards the Ukrainian ports on the Danube.”
However, the nation clarified that no unauthorized intrusion into national airspace were recorded during the mission.