
Ukraine's Zelensky meets with U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham, Richard Blumenthal
July 11 (UPI) -- Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome on Friday.
The meeting, called the Coalition of the Willing, also was attended by U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg.
Zelenskyy said that strengthening Ukraine's air defense is a top priority.
Ukrainian intelligence says Russia plans to launch attacks with up to 1,000 drones at a time. Ukraine's defense against these attacks are interceptor drones, but there must be more investment in their production, according to a statement from Zelensky. He also said Ukraine is ready to purchase a large defense package from the United States.
To prevent Russia's ongoing attacks, Zelensky said there needs to be more sanctions against Russia. Graham and Blumenthal discussed a bill they are sponsoring that addresses that.
"We also touched on the bill introduced by Senators Graham and Blumenthal regarding additional restrictive measures against Russia and those supporting its war effort," Zelensky said on X. "Without a doubt, this is exactly the kind of leverage that can bring peace closer and make sure diplomacy is not empty."
Blumenthal added that other nations at the conference were supportive of the bill.
"Deeply inspired & energized by strong solidarity among European heads of state -- hearing from Sen. Graham & me about our Russia Sanctions bill at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome," he said on X. "Powerful commitment to Ukraine's cause & our legislation."
He hinted that the sanctions would hurt Russia-supporting nations.
"Momentum building for our Russia Sanctions bill, shown by repeated statements of support from heads of state in Rome at the Ukraine Recovery Conference," he tweeted. "Bone crushing sanctions should help halt China, India & Brazil from fueling Russia's war machine by buying its oil & gas."
In recent weeks, Russia has intensified its attacks, launching record numbers of drones at Kyiv and other civilian targets. The United States has begun sending arms to Ukraine after a pause.
The Ukraine Recovery Conference is a two-day event focused on building political and private-sector support for the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


American Military News
4 minutes ago
- American Military News
Russia Tones Down Naval Celebrations As Drones Fly Near Putin's Hometown
This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission. Russia held subdued ceremonies honoring its navy on July 27 in St. Petersburg, citing security concerns, and authorities in the surrounding region reported that air defense forces shot down several drones they said were fired by Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia kept up its assault on Ukraine, where officials said the military shot down 78 of the 83 attack drones or decoys fired overnight and into the morning, including several whose fragments damaged buildings in the Poltava region, which lies between Kyiv and the front lines in the east. Russian President Vladimir Putin revived a Navy Day parade of ships on the Neva River in his hometown of St. Petersburg in 2017, part of continuing efforts to celebrate the military and whip up patriotic sentiment. But the naval parade was canceled this year, a decision announced by local authorities late last week. On July 27, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that 'it's linked to the overall situation, security reasons, which are above all else.' Russian officials said more than 10 drones were shot down in the morning in the Leningrad region, which surrounds St. Petersburg, and the governor said one woman was slightly injured by falling debris. Dozens of flights were suspended at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport. Almost 100 drones were shot down in various Russian regions overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Putin was in St. Petersburg and received reports on a four-day naval exercise that ended on July 27 and involved vessels from the Baltic Sea, off St. Petersburg, to the Pacific. He pledged to build more warships and step up naval training, saying that 'the navy's strike power and combat capability will rise to a qualitatively new level.' Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv's forces have sunk or damaged several Russian naval vessels in the Black Sea, hampering its operations there and chasing it from the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula to a base in Russia, Novorossiisk. While nothing like the large, unrelenting air strikes that Russia has been unleashing on Ukrainian cities nationwide and stepped up in recent months, Kyiv has harried Russia with drone attacks. In a social media post on July 26, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian strikes on cities, towns, and infrastructure 'certainly cannot be left without response, and Ukrainian long-range drones ensure one. 'Russian military enterprises, Russian logistics, and Russian airfields must see that Russia's own war is now hitting them back with real consequences,' he wrote. 'The precision of our drones, the daily nature of Ukraine's responses — are some of the arguments that will surely bring peace closer.' Russian and Ukrainian negotiators made no visible progress toward peace at a brief third round of direct negotiations in Istanbul on July 23. Russia has rejected calls by the United States, European countries, and Ukraine for a cease-fire, and Kyiv and Moscow remain miles apart on key issues such as territory and security. Among other things, Russia says Ukraine must cede four mainland regions that it baselessly claims are now Russian, including the portions that its forces do not hold, and accept strict limits on the size of its armed forces and foreign military President Donald Trump, who has been seeking to broker a peace deal since he took office in January, threatened on July 14 to impose new sanctions on Moscow – and secondary sanctions punishing countries that buy Russian petroleum products — if Russia and Ukraine do not reach a deal by early an interview with Fox News broadcast on July 26, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump is becoming 'increasingly frustrated' that despite having good interactions with Putin during phone calls, 'it never leads anywhere.' Trump is 'losing his patience. He's losing his willingness to continue to wait for the Russian side to do something here, to bring an end to this war,' Rubio said, adding that there was 'no way that Putin could have sustained this war without Chinese support, particularly buying his oil.'

Associated Press
4 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Trump says he's shortening the 50-day deadline for Russia to end the war in Ukraine
EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he intends to shorten the 50-day deadline he gave Russian President Vladimir Putin to reach a deal that ends the three-year war in Ukraine. His announcement came as Russia fired an overnight barrage at Ukraine of more than 300 drones, four cruise missiles and three ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian air force said. Trump said two weeks ago he would implement 'severe tariffs' on Russia unless a peace deal is reached by early September, as he expressed exasperation with Putin over the bombardment of Ukrainian cities amid the Republican president's attempts to stop the fighting. Trump said he would give Putin 10 to 12 days from Monday, meaning he wants peace efforts to make progress by Aug. 7-9. The plan includes possible sanctions and secondary tariffs targeting Russia's trading partners. The formal announcement would come later Monday or on Tuesday, he said. 'No reason in waiting,' Trump said of the shorter timeline. 'We just don't see any progress being made.' Putin has 'got to make a deal. Too many people are dying,' Trump said during a visit to Scotland. Trump repeated his criticism of Putin for talking about ending the war but continuing to bombard Ukrainian civilians. 'And I say, that's not the way to do it,' Trump said. He added, 'I'm disappointed in President Putin.' A Russian drone blew out the windows of a 25-story residential building in the Darnytskyi district of Kyiv, the head of the city's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, wrote on Telegram. Eight people were injured, including a 4-year-old girl, he said. The attack also started a fire in Kropyvnytskyi, in central Ukraine, local officials said, but no injuries were reported. The main target of the Russian attack was Starokostiantyniv, in the Khmelnytskyi region of western Ukraine, the air force said. Regional authorities reported no damage or casualties. The western part of Ukraine is on the other side of the country from the front line, and the Ukrainian military is believed to have significant airfields as well as arsenals and depots there. The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces carried out an overnight strike with long-range, air-launched weapons, hitting a Ukrainian air base along with an ammunition depot containing stockpiles of missiles and components for drone production. ___ Associated Press journalist Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed. ___ Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at


TechCrunch
4 minutes ago
- TechCrunch
Flights grounded as Russia's largest airline Aeroflot hit by cyberattack
In Brief Flights across Russia have been grounded after a cyberattack hit the country's largest airline, Aeroflot, on Monday. Details of the cyberattack remain limited, but a pro-Ukrainian hacker group known for targeting Russian organizations called Silent Crow took credit for the cyberattack alongside Belarusian hackers, citing Russia's occupation of Ukraine. The group said in a Telegram post, seen by TechCrunch, that it had taken control of Aeroflot's critical systems, including terabytes of internal data. The group said it 'destroyed' the airline's systems that it had access to. Screenshots posted by the hackers allegedly show access to several Aeroflot systems, including its internal active directory of internal users. Aeroflot's website was currently unavailable on Monday, with an error message saying it had been 'temporarily restricted.' Footage from inside a Russian airport shows a departure screen showing flights cancelled across the board. A statement from Russian prosecutors confirmed more than 60 flights were cancelled, citing a 'hacker attack.'