Russian military officer in high tech government agency speaking false ideals. (Freepik)
In London, Ukraine’s air force reported a major Russian attack on the night of August 18 into the morning, now becoming the largest overnight assault in weeks.
“As a result of the attack, large-scale fires broke out,” according to a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Energy Ministry. Russia has claimed that they’ve shot down 23 Ukrainian drones, along with 13 missiles. Moreover, these overnight exchanges came after a day of discussion in Washington.
While the assault was considered the biggest in the war, Ukraine’s air forces succeeded in reducing the debris caused by 270 drones and 10 missiles that were launched.
President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and a host of European leaders gathered in the capital on August 18, the day of the attack, to discuss an end to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022. After the meeting, Zelenskyy posted on Twitter that the meeting was “truly a significant step toward ending the war.”
Despite this, Russian President Vladimir Putin refused an immediate ceasefire, demanding that Ukraine give up its entire eastern Donetsk region to stop the attacks. In response to both these expectations from both presidents, President Trump seemingly pressured Zelenskyy into making a deal.
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump said on his Twitter.
He additionally added that Ukraine would be denied to play a part in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and wouldn’t be able to regain Crimea, a country that was occupied by Russia in 2014. Such bold remarks raised many concerns about an additional Oval Office meeting, akin to the public criticism that Zelenskyy had received for his alleged ingratitude for American wartime support.
Despite this, all leaders at the Washington meeting confirmed their support for a direct bilateral meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin, a proposition that the Russian president repeatedly avoided.
Furthermore, Trump has posted on his social network that he has spoken on the phone with Putin himself, beginning arrangements for the meeting between him and Zelenskyy. Trump has repeatedly demanded a ceasefire since returning to office in January, but seemingly dropped the idea after meeting with Putin last week.
Although Zelenskyy had regarded his gratitude to Trump for hosting this recent meeting, post-meeting comments from European leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron stated, “For my part, I have the greatest doubts about the reality of a desire for peace on the part of the Russian president, because as long as he thinks he can win the war, he will do so.”
The President added, “A sovereign state cannot simply decide something like that. It is a decision Ukraine must make itself”. The President later confirmed that Putin would accept the security guarantees for Ukraine, though Russian officials made it clear that the presence of NATO troops in the country would be unacceptable.