In a recent development Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky has reached a political agreement with Donald Trump on licences to produce Patriot missiles. On Thursday, the Ukrainian president hailed a “productive” Nato summit in Ankara, in which talks were also proceeding with the US on a “drone deal” or joint drone production.
Speaking to reporters after returning from a NATO summit and talks with Donald Trump, said: “I believe this was a productive summit for Ukraine. In the coming days, we’ll receive a package from the United States, and there were also some separate agreements.” The announcement triggered condemnation from Moscow, with a foreign ministry spokesperson saying Nato’s decisions could have catastrophic consequences.
Meanwhile, sources in the matter revealed Russian president Putin rejected calls to negotiate peace with Kyiv. Sources, who agreed to speak on grounds of anonymity said that Putin was instead likely to escalate the conflict, now well into its fifth year. One of them, who meets regularly with the president, described a “high probability” of escalation in the coming months. The Russian president publicly rebuffed a call by Zelenskiy in June for a meeting and a ceasefire.
The comments follow the latest telephonic conversation by US president Donald Trump with the Ukrainian and Russian counterparts on last week. The US is brokering peace between the two nations at war since 2024.
Russia on Wednesday, denounced NATOs decision at the Anakara Summit saying they could have catastrophic consequences, after the alliance announced military aid to Ukraine and reaffirmed members’ commitment to collective defence. At the summit, NATO members pledged €70 billion ($80 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine for 2026.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said NATO’s priorities remained unchanged: “the militarisation of the European continent, the focus on building up defence capabilities, preparation for an armed conflict with Russia, and, of course, aid to Ukraine”.
At the war front, Ukraine has hit 12 Russian tankers in the Sea of Azov, the general staff of the armed forces has said.
“The affected vessels were used, among other, to supply fuel and oil materials to the grouping of troops of the Russian Federation, as well as to transport oil and petroleum products in the absence of international sanctions,” read a statement on Telegram.