Ukraine seeks €5bn more for weapons amid new push for peace negotiations
Kiev
Kiev said on Monday that it requires the equivalent of over €5 billion ($5.84 billion) in additional military aid this year to boost its production of weapons, as Moscow responded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's proposal for new peace talks.
The funds are necessary to manufacture more remote-controlled drones, interceptor drones and long-range weapons, Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal said during an online meeting in the so-called Ramstein format. According to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, he asked partner countries to already provide funds for 2026.
Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi also called for an increase in military aid.
'We are still urgently lacking air-defence systems and associated missiles, long-range weapons, artillery shells, armoured technology, evacuation equipment, electronic warfare systems, radars, drone systems and more,' the general said, adding that only with joint efforts could Russian aggression be stopped.
The 29th meeting was attended by 50 partner countries of Ukraine, led by Germany and the United Kingdom.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than three years with massive Western support.
Moscow confirms interest in negotiations with Kiev
The Kremlin confirmed on Monday its interest in a third round of negotiations proposed by Zelensky to end the war.
At the previous meeting, both sides exchanged their position papers, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. According to Russian news agencies, he said that an exchange of views and negotiations are now pending, but so far they are completely opposing. He added that 'great diplomatic work' is still needed.
On Saturday, Zelensky proposed a meeting to take place later this week. According to Peskov, there is no finalized date yet.
He stated that there are no changes on the Russian side regarding the composition of the delegation. In the previous two rounds of talks in Istanbul, Russia's chief negotiator was presidential adviser and former culture minister Vladimir Medinsky.
In May, Kiev and Moscow held bilateral negotiations for the first time in three years. At this meeting and a later one in June in Istanbul, both sides agreed on a large prisoner exchange and the return of fallen soldiers.
However, steps towards ending the war against Ukraine, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022, were not discussed.
Fresh wave of Russian attacks on Ukraine
At least one person was killed and eight others injured as Russia launched a wave of drone attacks on Kiev overnight, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Monday morning on the platform X about a total of two dead and 15 injured following the attacks across the country as a whole.
The attacks hit the capital and its surroundings, as well as Kharkiv in the north-east and Ivano-Frankivsk in the west of the country, near the Polish border. Referring to Ivano-Frankivsk, Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv described it as the largest attack since the beginning of the war.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia attacked its neighbouring country overnight with 426 drones and drone decoys.
Additionally, Moscow reportedly used five Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic missiles and 19 cruise missiles of various types.
The air force stated that 403 drones and decoys were shot down or brought down by targeted jamming. The majority of the missiles and cruise missiles were also neutralized, they wrote, but did not specify an exact number.
Air and rail traffic in Russia restricted due to drones
The Ministry of Defence in Moscow said on Monday that 74 Ukrainian drones were shot down over Russian territory overnight. Of these, 15 were reportedly approaching the capital.
The drone attacks once again affected air traffic. According to the aviation authority Rosaviatsiya, the four Moscow airports and the one in Nizhny Novgorod were closed for take-offs and landings for several hours.
In the Rostov region, the drone attacks also led to restrictions in train traffic.
Drone debris caused a fire at the station in the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, the North Caucasus Railway Company reported. More than 50 trains were delayed as a result.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Russia escalates in Ukraine
Russia escalates in Ukraine Project Force Video Duration 03 minutes 00 seconds 03:00 Video Duration 02 minutes 32 seconds 02:32 Video Duration 03 minutes 23 seconds 03:23 Video Duration 03 minutes 03 seconds 03:03 Video Duration 02 minutes 55 seconds 02:55 Video Duration 03 minutes 18 seconds 03:18 Video Duration 02 minutes 57 seconds 02:57
Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Russia seeking to create ‘buffer zones' in Ukraine, says Kremlin
Russian forces are pushing to create 'buffer zones' along the border with Ukraine, the Kremlin has said, as fighting rages on in the wake of a third round of peace talks that again failed to yield any progress towards a ceasefire, in a fourth year of war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the comments during a briefing on Thursday, signalling that Russia had no intention of de-escalating its war on Ukraine following a brief meeting Wednesday between delegations in Istanbul that lasted just 40 minutes. Negotiators in the Turkish city discussed further prisoner swaps, but remained far apart on a ceasefire and a proposed face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sought by the latter. At a news conference in Istanbul following the talks, Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, said an exchange of prisoners had been carried out on the Ukraine-Belarus border, with about 250 people returned to each side. More than 1,000 Ukrainians returned Zelenskyy confirmed the exchange, saying in a post on social media that Wednesday's prisoner swap – the ninth stage of an exchange process agreed to by the parties in Istanbul – meant that more than 1,000 Ukrainian prisoners had been returned under the agreement. 'For a thousand families, this means the joy of embracing their loved ones again,' Zelenskyy said, adding that many of the prisoners had been in captivity for more than three years. 'It is important that the exchanges are ongoing and our people are coming home,' he said. 'We will continue doing everything possible to ensure that every one of our people returns from captivity.' Drone and missile attacks Following the brief meeting in Istanbul, Russia and Ukraine continued their air attacks against each other, with Russian drones and missiles targeting Ukrainian territory overnight and casualties reported in Russia. Russia launched 103 attack drones and four missiles at Ukraine overnight, killing three people in the Kharkiv region, Zelenskyy said in a social media post on Thursday. More than 10 others were wounded in Cherkasy, including a 9-year-old child, he added. He noted that, just a day earlier, Ukraine's delegation in Istanbul had reiterated its 'proposal for an immediate and full ceasefire'. 'In response, Russian drones struck residential buildings and the Pryvoz market in Odesa, apartment blocks in Cherkasy, energy infrastructure in the Kharkiv region, a university gym in Zaporizhzhia,' he said. 'We will make every effort to ensure that diplomacy works,' he added. 'But it is Russia that must end this war.' Yesterday, at the meeting in Istanbul, the proposal for an immediate and full ceasefire was reiterated to the Russian side. In response, Russian drones struck residential buildings and the Pryvoz market in Odesa, apartment blocks in Cherkasy, energy infrastructure in the Kharkiv… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 24, 2025 In Russia, emergency officials in the Krasnodar region on the Black Sea said debris from a falling drone struck and killed a woman in the Adler district near the resort city of Sochi, while a second woman was seriously injured, the Reuters news agency reported.
Al Jazeera
15 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,246
Here is how things stand on Thursday, July 24: Fighting A Russian drone strike on an energy facility in Ukraine's northern region of Sumy caused power cuts for 220,000 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that the supply had been restored to most of those affected. Russia's air defence systems destroyed 33 Ukrainian drones overnight in six regions, the Russian Ministry of Defence said. Ceasefire Ukraine has brought home a new group of prisoners of war from Russia, Zelenskyy said, adding that the release means that more than 1,000 captive soldiers have now returned as a result of talks with Moscow in Turkiye. It is unclear how many Russian soldiers were returned in exchange for the Ukrainian prisoners. Russia and Ukraine discussed further prisoner swaps at a brief session of peace talks in Istanbul, but the sides remain far apart on ceasefire terms and a possible meeting of their leaders. 'We have progress on the humanitarian track, with no progress on a cessation of hostilities,' Ukraine's chief delegate, Rustem Umerov, said after the 40-minute talks. Umerov said Ukraine had proposed a meeting before the end of August between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow's chief delegate, Vladimir Medinsky, said Russia had agreed at the talks with Ukraine to exchange more prisoners of war, including more than 3,000 bodies of dead soldiers. Military aid The US Department of State said it approved $322m in proposed weapons sales to Ukraine to enhance its air defence capabilities and provide armoured combat vehicles. The potential sales include $150m for the supply, maintenance, repair and overhaul of US armoured vehicles in Ukraine, and $172m for surface-to-air missile systems. US President Donald Trump touted a recent deal between the United States and NATO, whereby European allies would buy weapons and send them to Ukraine. 'They're going to pay the United States of America 100 percent of the cost of all military equipment, and much of it will go to Ukraine,' Trump said in Washington, DC. Chinese-made engines are being covertly shipped via front companies to a state-owned drone manufacturer in Russia, labelled as 'industrial refrigeration units' to avoid Western sanctions, according to three European security officials and documents reviewed by the Reuters news agency. Zelenskyy said he discussed strengthening Ukraine's air defences with Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar in Kyiv on Wednesday. Politics Zelenskyy has bowed to pressure from Ukraine's first wartime street protests, which took place over two days in cities across the country, demanding the reversal of a law curbing the independence of anticorruption agencies. In his evening address to the nation, Zelenskyy said he would submit a new bill to ensure the rule of law and retain the independence of the anticorruption agencies. Regional developments Russian Tu-95MS nuclear-capable strategic bombers completed a routine patrol flight over international waters in the Bering Sea, the Russian Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the Russian Defence Ministry. Russia also began major navy drills involving more than 150 vessels and 15,000 military personnel in the Pacific and Arctic oceans, and in the Baltic and Caspian seas, the Defence Ministry said. The so-called 'July Storm' exercise from July 23 to July 27 will test the readiness of the Russian fleet for non-standard operations, the use of long-range weapons and other advanced technology, including unmanned systems.
