Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for sanctions on Russia ahead of the Trump–Putin meeting, scheduled to take place on Friday.
This will be the first-ever direct meeting between President Trump and his Russian counterpart in Alaska, where both leaders are expected to focus on ending the war in Ukraine, ongoing since 2022.
Even though both sides have been preparing for this much-anticipated meeting, Russia and Ukraine continued their attacks on Monday. The Russian side claimed that its air defences had shot down 121 Ukrainian drones over various parts of the country, including the capital, Moscow.
The Ukrainian President accused Russia of continuing to kill civilians in the country, regardless of peace talks. Zelenskyy said Russia does not want to “stop killing Ukrainians”.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service officials said around 20 people were injured on Sunday when the southern city of Zaporizhzhia was hit by “massive Russian shelling”.
Zelenskyy criticised the attack on Sunday, calling any deadline or expectations for a ceasefire meaningless. “Everyone sees that there has been no real step from Russia towards peace, no action on the ground or in the air that could save lives. That is why sanctions are needed; pressure is needed.”
On Monday, the President of the United States said, “I’m going to speak to Vladimir Putin and I’m going to be telling him, you’ve got to end this war. You’ve got to end it.”
The fate of the upcoming meeting remains to be seen, as both sides will be heading to Alaska with some apprehension towards one another. The Russian side wants to end this war on its own terms, whereas Ukraine has ruled out territorial concessions, which remains one of the main deadlocks in the talks.
The complexity does not end there; any ceasefire without Ukrainian leadership would be unacceptable and would threaten the very idea of Zelenskyy’s leadership, as he could end up losing control over the country’s affairs.
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