KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a rare drone and missile attack on western Ukraine overnight, officials said Thursday, striking targets including an American-owned electronics plant and injecting further uncertainty into the U.S.-led efforts to end the three-year-old war.
The aerial assault on a part of Ukraine that has largely avoided such focused attacks was one of Russia’s biggest this year and came amid Moscow’s objections to key aspects of proposals that could end the fighting following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its neighbor.
U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week before hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House on Monday.
Trump last month questioned Putin’s commitment to ending the war, saying the Russian leader “talks nice and then he bombs everybody.”
In a social media post Thursday, Trump criticized his predecessor, Joe Biden, for not providing Ukraine with more weaponry it needs to “fight back.”
“It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders country,” Trump said. “It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offensive. There is no chance of winning! It is like that with Ukraine and Russia.”
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump is weighing any changes to the types of weapons the U.S. will provide to Kyiv.
The push for peace through diplomacy
Russia has fired nearly 1,000 long-range drones and missiles at Ukraine since Monday’s White House talks, according to Ukrainian tallies.
European countries are discussing how they can deploy military assets to deter any postwar Russian assault on Ukraine. But the Kremlin won’t accept the deployment of any troops from NATO countries, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that making security arrangements for Ukraine without Moscow’s involvement was pointless.
Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskyy to discuss peace terms, Lavrov said Thursday, but only after key issues have been worked out by senior officials in what could be a protracted negotiating process because the two sides remain far apart.
Ukrainian and European leaders have accused Putin of stalling in the peace efforts in the hopes that his bigger army, which has been making slow advances, can capture more Ukrainian land.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio planned to host a conference call Thursday with the national security advisers of European countries expected to play a role in future security guarantees for Ukraine, a senior U.S. official said. It wasn’t immediately clear which countries would be on the call. The U.S. official spoke on condition of anonymity to outline a discussion that had not been publicly announced.
Military leaders from Ukraine, the U.S., the U.K., Finland, France, Germany and Italy met Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington to work out military options, said Joseph Holstead, a spokesperson for the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. His statement gave no details about what specifically was discussed at the meeting, which also included NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe.
But an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the discussions said, “Everything is being considered and nothing is being ruled out,” regarding security guarantees for Ukraine, apart from U.S. boots on the ground.
Military chiefs and their staffs are looking at a variety of options including “how big” the security guarantee is and what happens if it is implemented with or without a ceasefire, the official said, noting that European defense chiefs acknowledged its their “responsibility to secure Europe.”
Western Ukraine is struck
Russia launched 574 drones and 40 ballistic and cruise missiles overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. The attack mostly targeted western regions of the country where much of the military aid provided by Ukraine’s Western allies is believed to be delivered and stored. The strikes killed at least one person and injured 15 others, according to officials.
