KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday he will travel to the United States this week for talks on the potential US provision of long-range weapons, a day after US President Donald Trump warned Russia he may send Kyiv long-range Tomahawk missiles.
A meeting between Zelensky and Trump could take place as early as Friday, the Ukrainian president said, adding that he also would meet with defense and energy companies and members of Congress.
“The main topics will be air defense and our long-range capabilities, to maintain pressure on Russia,” Zelensky said.
He spoke at a meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas. He said he also would seek further US assistance to protect Ukraine’s electricity and gas networks, which have faced relentless Russian bombardment. The US visit follows what Zelensky described as a “very productive” phone call with Trump on Sunday. Trump later warned Russia that he may send Ukraine long-range Tomahawk missiles if Moscow doesn’t settle its war there soon. The missiles would allow Ukraine to strike deeper into Russian territory.
Moscow has expressed “extreme concern” over the US potentially providing Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin himself has previously suggested that the US supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine would seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington.
Zelensky will join a Ukrainian delegation already in the US for preliminary talks, led by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. Russia has stepped up attacks in recent weeks targeting electricity and gas infrastructure ahead of winter, in an effort to cripple Ukraine’s power grid ahead of freezing temperatures to erode public morale. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said the worst attacks early Monday using drones and missiles occurred around the Black Sea port of Odesa and in the northern Chernihiv region, where one person was killed.
Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, pledged continued pressure on Moscow. She also expressed confidence that objections led by Hungary to a new Russia sanctions package would be overcome, even if the process drags on past a meeting of EU leaders next week. “On funding, the needs are enormous. We must help Ukraine defend itself so we don’t later spend even more repairing destroyed infrastructure,” Kallas said. “We are 27 member states, and 27 democracies, so debates take time ... I’m positive that, as before, we’ll achieve a decision.”
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Zelensky to visit Washington seeking long-range weapons
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Zelensky to visit Washington seeking long-range weapons
- Meeting between Ukraine leader and Trump could take place as early as Friday
- US president warned Russia Sunday he may send Kyiv Tomahawk missiles
Pakistani Taliban kill six soldiers in checkpoint attack
- Pakistan has faced a surge in militant attacks along its border regions since the Taliban authorities retook control in Kabul in 2021
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Pakistani Taliban militants stormed a security checkpoint in Pakistan’s northwestern border area with Afghanistan, killing six soldiers and wounding four others, a government official said Tuesday.
Pakistan has faced a surge in militant attacks along its border regions since the Taliban authorities retook control in Kabul in 2021.
It accuses Afghanistan of harboring the insurgents, a claim the Taliban government denies.
Late Monday, more than a dozen armed men attacked the checkpoint, leading to a heavy exchange of fire in Kurram, a tribal district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Six security personnel were martyred and four were injured, while two militants were also killed in the fighting,” the government official posted in Kurram, who was not authorized to speak to the media, told AFP on the condition of anonymity.
The Pakistani Taliban group, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has long been active in the region, and claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistan accuses the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan of sheltering TTP militants and allowing them to launch cross-border attacks from there — a charge Kabul denies.
The border between the two countries has been closed since the clashes in October, though Pakistan said last week it would allow UN aid supplies to pass to Afghanistan soon.
The attack comes days after an exchange of gunfire and shelling between Afghan and Pakistani forces at a major border crossing that killed four civilians and one soldier, according to Afghanistan.
Each side accused the other of starting the fighting.
Pakistan has faced a surge in militant attacks along its border regions since the Taliban authorities retook control in Kabul in 2021.
It accuses Afghanistan of harboring the insurgents, a claim the Taliban government denies.
Late Monday, more than a dozen armed men attacked the checkpoint, leading to a heavy exchange of fire in Kurram, a tribal district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Six security personnel were martyred and four were injured, while two militants were also killed in the fighting,” the government official posted in Kurram, who was not authorized to speak to the media, told AFP on the condition of anonymity.
The Pakistani Taliban group, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has long been active in the region, and claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistan accuses the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan of sheltering TTP militants and allowing them to launch cross-border attacks from there — a charge Kabul denies.
The border between the two countries has been closed since the clashes in October, though Pakistan said last week it would allow UN aid supplies to pass to Afghanistan soon.
The attack comes days after an exchange of gunfire and shelling between Afghan and Pakistani forces at a major border crossing that killed four civilians and one soldier, according to Afghanistan.
Each side accused the other of starting the fighting.
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