Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky says Putin’s war can be stopped in 2025 as Kyiv destroys 400 Russian drones
Ukrainian president calls on European countries to invest in weapons production in Ukraine
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says he believes Kyiv has the opportunity to end the war with Russia by next year, as long as his country receives sufficient support from its allies.
“In October, November and December we have a chance to move things toward peace and lasting stability,” he told the Ukraine-South East Europe summit in Dubrovnik.
“The situation on the battlefield creates an opportunity to make this choice for decisive action to end the war no later than in 2025.”
Zelensky also used the summit to call on southeastern European countries to invest in weapons production in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military said its forces had struck a base in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region storing hundreds of Shahed drones yesterday. “According to available information, nearly 400 strike drones were stored there,” Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement.
“Based on objective control results, a direct hit was made on the target. Secondary explosions were observed at the site,” it said.
And the Russian military is looking to make significant advances in the Donbas region before muddy ground conditions in the autumn set in, a US-based think-tank has said.
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Zelensky seeking opportunity to end war in 2025
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has announced he is seeking an opportunity to end the war with Russia next year.
“In October, November and December we have a chance to move things toward peace and lasting stability,” he told the Ukraine-South East Europe summit in Dubrovnik.
“The situation on the battlefield creates an opportunity to make this choice for decisive action to end the war no later than in 2025.”
Pope Francis to meet Ukraine’s Zelensky on Friday
Pope Francis will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday morning, the Vatican said on Wednesday.
Francis last saw the Ukrainian president on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in southern Italy this summer. The two also met at the Vatican in December 2023.
Zelensky is also expected to hold talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during his stay in Rome this week.
Russia says peace in Ukraine is impossible if Kyiv gets Nato membership
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that achieving a just peace in Ukraine would be impossible if Kyiv lost its neutrality by joining a bloc such as the US-led Nato military alliance.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has said peace talks can only begin if Kyiv agrees to abandon large swaths of territory claimed by Moscow and drops its bid to join Nato.
Zakharova, speaking about reports that the West was discussing an option in which Ukraine could join Nato in return for accepting Russian control over a swathe of Ukrainian territory, said that achieving a just peace in Ukraine would be impossible without ensuring that Ukraine‘s status was neutral and non-aligned.
Zakharova said that what Moscow calls the “special military operation” in Ukraine was a reaction to Nato’s eastward expansion.
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