LONDON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “prolonging the war” and “ignoring” U.S.-led efforts to agree to a ceasefire, as a first step toward ending Moscow’s three-year-old invasion of its neighbor.
Recent weeks have seen Kyiv and Moscow frame each other as the main impediment to peace, maneuvering to win backing from President Donald Trump as the White House presses for an end to the conflict.
Zelenskyy on Saturday reported a massing of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine’s eastern Sumy region. “This indicates an intention to attack,” Zelenskyy said. “We are aware of this, and will counter it. I would like all partners to understand exactly what Putin is planning, what he is preparing for and what he will be ignoring.”
“The buildup of Russian forces indicates that Moscow intends to keep ignoring diplomacy,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on social media. “It is clear that Russia is prolonging the war. We are ready to provide our partners with all the real information on the situation at the front, in the Kursk region and along our border.”
Fierce fighting and long-range strikes continued despite the U.S. peace push. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 90 attack drones into the country on Saturday night. Forty-seven were shot down with 33 lost in flight, the air force said. “The Chernihiv, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa regions were affected by the Russian attack,” it added.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down 31 Ukrainian drones over four Russian regions.
Last week, Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. Moscow was non-committal, Putin saying he was “for” the agreement but setting out additional conditions for its implementation.
In Russia’s western Kursk region — where Ukrainian forces seized ground in a surprise August 2024 offensive — Moscow is seeking to cut off and destroy Kyiv’s troops. Russian officials have said no peace deal is possible until Kursk is recaptured.
The fighting in the border region prompted Trump to warn of “a horrible massacre,” adding he had asked Putin to spare the lives of the Ukrainian soldiers still fighting there.
Zelenskyy, his officials and commanders denied the suggestion that Ukrainian troops were cut off.
“Our troops continue to hold back Russian and North Korean groupings in the Kursk region,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media on Saturday. “There is no encirclement of our troops.”
Trump last week touted “very good and productive” discussions between the U.S. and Russia, for which Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Moscow and met with Putin. There is, Trump said, a “very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday, according to a State Department readout. The two officials “discussed next steps to follow up on recent meetings in Saudi Arabia and agreed to continue working towards restoring communication between the United States and Russia,” the statement said.
It remains unclear whether Russia is willing to downgrade its long-held maximalist war goals. Trump has threatened to impose new sanctions and tariffs on Moscow if the Kremlin does not show a willingness to pursue a peace deal.
Yuri Ushakov, a senior foreign policy aide to Putin, said in an interview with state television aired on Sunday that Moscow views the proposed 30-day ceasefire an “an attempt to give a break to Ukrainian troops who are now enduring difficult times.”
“Russian troops are on the offensive on all fronts,” Ushakov said in comments that appear to have been recorded on Thursday when Witkoff was in Moscow. “And in this situation, we can view it as a sort of attempt to give time to Ukrainian troops time to rearm and regroup.”
Ukraine, meanwhile, appears to have somewhat repaired ties with the White House after a month of tensions culminated in a brief U.S. freeze on military aid and intelligence sharing.
Still, Zelenskyy has repeatedly stressed the need for lasting Western security guarantees backed by the U.S. — a commitment the Trump administration has so far dodged.
“Peace will be more reliable with the presence of European contingents on the ground, supported by the American side,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media on Saturday.
The Kremlin has dismissed the proposal, a stance Zelenskyy suggested should be ignored.
“It is also a very bad signal to listen to the opinion of the Russians regarding the contingent,” the president wrote. “The contingent should be stationed on Ukrainian soil. This is a guarantee of security for Ukraine and for Europe.”
“If Putin wants to introduce some foreign contingent into the territory of Russia, that is his business,” he added. “But it is not his business to decide something about the security of Ukraine and Europe.”
ABC News’ Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.
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