Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces launch fresh drone assault as Trump says Putin wants to meet him
It comes after Donald Trump said ending the conflict within six months was more realistic than 24 hours
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Your support makes all the difference.Vladimir Putin’s forces have launched a fresh drone assault on Ukraine as Donald Trump revealed the Russian leader wants to meet him.
Russian troops fired up to 72 drones at Ukraine overnight, hitting various buildings in the northern region of Chernihiv, as Kyiv’s airforce was scrambled to down 33 of them, it said.
It comes as US president-elect Donald Trump said Putin wants to meet him and a meeting was being set up as the war in Ukraine crosses 1050-day mark.
“He wants to meet, and we are setting it up,” Mr Trump said in remarks before a meeting with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
“President Putin wants to meet. He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess,” Trump said about the Russia-Ukraine war.
On Thursday, Trump pushed back his campaign pledge to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours and said six months was a more realistic target.
“The whole [Trump] team is obsessed with strength and looking strong, so they’re recalibrating the Ukraine approach,” a European official told the Financial Times.
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Starmer and Macron discuss Ukraine and Middle East ahead of Trump’s inauguration
Prime minister Keir Starmer welcomed the French president Emmanuel Macron to Chequers yesterday evening for wide-ranging discussions over dinner.
Sir Starmer said it was a “privilege” to host Mr Macron, the second world leader to meet the prime minister at his official country retreat since he took office in July.
Describing the meeting as “further evidence of our ability to work well together”, Sir Keir said the pair planned to discuss “a number of issues of concern”, including the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East, while Downing Street has previously indicated that illegal migration, tech and growth would also be on the agenda.
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Mr Macron said the meeting was a great opportunity to discuss EU-UK relations and ‘the main crisis’ in Ukraine.
Zelensky says meeting of allies pledges $2bn in aid
Volodymyr Zelensky said the latest in a series of meetings with Kyiv’s Western allies in Germany had resulted in pledges of an additional $2bn in military assistance to help it fight the war against Russia.
Mr Zelensky, speaking to My-Ukraina television channel after yesterday’s meeting, gave few details of the assistance, but that 34 countries had pledged support in different aspects of the 34-month-old war.
“We had a very good meeting, a very good result. There was $2bn in additional packages of support to Ukraine,” he said in a video posted on the television channel’s Telegram account.
The aid covered air defence, information technology, demining, naval forces, air forces and artillery.
“And all this will strengthen Ukraine,” he said. The president gave no details on which countries had made the pledges.
Trump says Putin wants to meet him, meeting being fixed
Donald Trump said a meeting was being set up between him and Russian president Vladimir Putin, but the Republican offered no timeline for talks between the two leaders.
“He wants to meet, and we are setting it up,” Trump said in remarks before a meeting with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
“President Putin wants to meet. He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess,” Trump said about the Russia-Ukraine war.
Mr Trump’s return to the White House on 20 January has sparked hope of a diplomatic resolution to end Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022, but it has also led to fears in Kyiv that a quick peace deal could come at a high price for Ukraine.
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