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Even after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s phone call to Vladimir Putin, advising against further escalation, Russia and Ukraine exchanged their most significant drone strikes to date, The Eastern Updates has learned.
Trump’s victory in the election could shift the trajectory of the conflict, now approaching its third year, and has raised concerns about the future of Washington’s substantial financial support for Kyiv’s defense efforts.
During his campaign, the Republican stated that he could put an end to the fighting in a matter of hours and expressed a readiness to speak personally with Putin, contrasting sharply with the approach taken by President Joe Biden.
According to the Washington Post, during a Thursday phone call, Trump advised Putin not to heighten the already prolonged war.
Just days after his stunning election victory over Democratic rival Kamala Harris, Trump reminded Putin of Washington’s sizeable military foothold in Europe from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to the Post report Sunday.
The Kremlin had earlier said it saw “positive signals” from Trump’s willingness to strike a deal, and several people speaking to the US paper said Trump had expressed the desire for more conversations on “the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon”.
Trump also spoke by phone with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday and the pair “agreed to work together towards a return to peace in Europe”, according to Scholz’s spokesman.
Trump will not be inaugurated until January and for the moment on the battlefield and in the skies, the conflict shows no signs of subsiding.
Russian air strikes killed at least five people in southern Ukraine, authorities said Monday, a day after Moscow and Kyiv launched record overnight drone attacks at each other.
Russia launched 145 drones at Ukraine overnight Saturday into Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said — more than in any single night during the conflict.
“Last night, Russia launched a record 145 Shaheds and other strike drones against Ukraine,” Zelensky said Sunday on social media, urging Kyiv’s Western allies to do more to help Ukraine’s defence.
