A drone every minute: Russia launches record barrage at Ukraine
US President Donald Trump this week said he was 'not happy' with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hasn't budged from his ceasefire and peace demands since Trump took office in January and began to push for a settlement.
Trump also said the US would have to send more weapons to Ukraine, just days after Washington paused critical weapons deliveries to Kyiv.
On Wednesday, the US resumed deliveries of certain weapons, including 155 mm munitions and precision-guided rockets known as GMLRS, two American officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity so they could provide details that hadn't been announced publicly. It's unclear exactly when the weapons started moving.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Trump 'has quite a tough style in terms of the phrasing he uses', adding that Moscow hopes to 'continue our dialogue with Washington and our course aimed at repairing the badly damaged bilateral ties'.
Zelensky, meanwhile, urged Ukraine's partners to impose stricter sanctions on Russian oil and those who help finance the Kremlin's war by buying it.
'Everyone who wants peace must act,' Zelensky said. The Ukrainian leader met Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday during a visit to Italy ahead of an international conference on rebuilding Ukraine.
Ukraine's air defences shot down 296 drones and seven missiles during the overnight attack, while 415 more drones were lost from radars or jammed, an air force statement said.
Ukrainian interceptor drones, developed to counter the Shahed ones fired by Russia, are increasingly effective, Zelensky said, adding that domestic production of anti-aircraft drones was being scaled up in partnership with some Western countries.
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Western military analysts say Russia is also boosting its drone manufacturing and could soon be capable of launching 1000 a night at Ukraine.
'Russia continues to expand its domestic drone production capacity amid the ever-growing role of tactical drones in front-line combat operations and Russia's increasingly large nightly long-range strike packages against Ukraine,' the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said.
Ukraine has also built up its own offensive drone threat, reaching deep into Russia with some long-range strikes.
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