KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital on Wednesday, killing at least two people, Ukrainian officials said, as U.S. President ‘s stop-and-go efforts to resolve the suffered another setback.
Trump said Tuesday his with Russian leader Vladimir Putin was on hold because he didn’t want it to be a “waste of time.”
The decision to hold off on the meeting in Budapest, Hungary, which Trump had announced last week, was made following a call Monday between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The Russian diplomat had made clear in public comments Tuesday that Russia is opposed to an immediate ceasefire.
In the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, emergency services rescued 10 people Wednesday after a fire caused by drone debris hit the sixth floor of a 16-story residential building in the Dnipro district of the city, where two people were found dead, local authorities reported.
The attack also blew out windows of a medical facility and debris was found at another residential building, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko reported on his Telegram channel.
In the Darnytskyi district of the capital emergency services were responding after drone debris hit a 17-story residential building causing a fire on five floors. Fifteen people had to be rescued including two children.
In the Desnianskyi district, 20 people were rescued after the façade of a 10-story building was damaged and a gas pipe caught fire. Debris from a drone also fell on a dormitory building and rescue workers were headed to the scene, Klitschko said.
The large-scale overnight aerial attack also targeted other cities in Ukraine including Zaporizhzhia and the port city of Izmail in the southern Odesa region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been trying to strengthen Ukraine’s position by seeking from the United States, although Trump has waffled on whether he would provide them.
“We need to end this war, and only pressure will lead to peace,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday in a Telegram post.
Ukraine is hoping to purchase 25 Patriot air defense systems from U.S. firms using frozen Russian assets and assistance from partners, but Zelenskyy said procuring them would require time because of long production waits. He said he has spoken to Trump about help procuring them more quickly, potentially from European partners.
Zelenskyy said earlier this week that the U.S. is interested in bilateral gas projects with Ukraine, including the construction of an LNG terminal in the southern port city of Odesa. Other projects of interest include those related to nuclear energy and oil.
Earlier this month, Russia launched its biggest attack of the war against natural gas facilities run by Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz Group, firing a total of 381 drones and 35 missiles at Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s air force in what officials was an attempt to ahead of winter.
On Wednesday, Trump is expected to hold talks in the White House with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. The military alliance has been coordinating deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, many of them by Canada and European countries.
A meeting of the — a group of 35 countries who support Ukraine — is due to take place in London on Friday.
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