Heavy air strikes took place overnight between Russia and Ukraine, on Saturday, both sides reported to have seen more than 100 enemy drones in their respective areas. The attack took place by Russian President Vladimir Putin less than 24 hours after the US Ambassador to discuss the description of the 30 -day ceasefire in a war with Ukraine from US Ambassador Steve Witchoff.
Putin said in a press conference on Thursday that he theoretically supports the ceasefire, but he gave many details that need to be clarified before agreed. Kiev has already supported the ceasefire proposal, although Ukrainian authorities have publicly doubted whether Moscow will be committed to such an agreement.
Talking to reporters at Kiev on Saturday after a virtual talks between Western colleagues hosted by Britain’s Prime Minister Kir Starmer, Zelancesi spoke of Ukraine’s support for a 30-day full ceasefire proposal to discuss the long-term peace plan, but said that Russia will try to derail the talks with the conditions and “but”.
Starmer has asked colleagues to “maintain pressure” on Putin to support a ceasefire in Ukraine, he described Ukraine as a “party of peace”. Starmer said that Putin “soon or later” will have to come to the table of conversation “.
In a statement earlier on Saturday, Zelancesi accused Moscow of increasing the army on the border. He said, “The growth of the Russian army shows that Moscow wants to ignore diplomacy. It is clear that Russia is pulling the war prolonged.”
However, Zelancesi insisted that if the Russia did not agree with the US proposal, the administration of US President Donald Trump would be given a “specific, rigid and direct” response.
He also said that Kiev’s soldiers are making their presence in Russia’s Kursk region, while on Friday, Trump said that “thousands” Ukrainian soldiers have been surrounded by the Russian army.
Zelansky said, “Our army campaign continues in the specified areas of the Kursk region.” “Our soldiers continue to stop Russian and North Korean groups in the Kursk region. There is no siege of our soldiers.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday. State Department spokesman Tami Bruce said in a statement that in a conversation he discussed the next steps after recent meetings in Saudi Arabia and agreed to continue working towards restoring communication between the US and Russia.
Ukraine’s Air Force said on Saturday that Russia shouted 178 drones and two ballistic missiles over the country in the night. The attack was a mixture of fake drones designed to confuse Shahed-type drones and air security. Around 130 drones were killed, while 38 and failed to reach their targets.
Ukraine’s private energy company DTEK said in a statement on Saturday that Russia attacked energy facilities, causing great damage to the energy infrastructure in the Dunipopatrovsk and Odess regions. Some residents had to live without electricity.
The energy company said, “The loss is very big. Energy employees are already working on the ground. We are making every effort to restore electricity in homes as soon as possible.”
The fall of a drone in Russia’s Volgograd region caused a fire in the city’s KrasnoMaceski district, close to the Lukoil oil refinery, Governor Andrei Bicharov, who did not give any more information. Local media outlets reported that nearby airports have temporarily stopped flights. No casualties were reported.
Since Moscow started a full -scale invasion of Ukraine over three years ago, the Volgograd refinery has been targeted several times by Kiev’s forces, the most recently drone attack on 15 February.
