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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned of a “massive” new Russian attack on Ukraine.
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In a post on X, the Ukrainian leader said intelligence suggested Moscow had “readied missiles” for an attack “within the next 48 hours.”
“Please take care of yourselves and pay attention to air raid alerts,” he wrote.
It comes after Ukrainian authorities said Russian missile strikes on the Kyiv region on Friday killed at least 10 people and injured around 100 more. The strikes reportedly hit an arms exhibition where representatives of the Ukrainian defence industry were present.
A further five people were killed following guided aerial bomb strikes in Slovyansk, per Zelenskyy.
Latvia’s foreign minister confirmed that the Latvian consulate in Slovyansk was damaged in the attacks.
Responding to the news in a statement posted to social media, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said the strike on the consulate “underscores Moscow’s utter disregard for international law.”
“Latvia has our full support,” she added.
Zelenskyy to meet with Trump
Zelenskyy is due to meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington next week as the US and Ukraine continue to discuss peace proposals to end the war, which began following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that he had spoken with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, about efforts to end the conflict.
“A good and important conversation about how to energize diplomacy and bring peace closer,” he said.
Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sat down with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) foreign ministers’ summit in the Philippines.
According to the Kremlin, Lavrov used the meeting to warn Washington against continuing arms sales to Kyiv.
“Lavrov briefed his American counterpart on the actual situation along the front line and emphasised that it would be unacceptable to further arm the Kyiv regime,” a statement from the Russian foreign ministry read.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Rubio said the pair had a “good,” “frank” conversation but declined to go into more detail.
Asked specifically about the Kremlin’s statement, Rubio said: “We sell arms via PURL, which is an initiative we have through NATO and that’s what we’re involved in. There’s been no change to our policy in that regard”.
“We want a peace deal. We want the war to end,” he added.