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Putin’s relentless attacks show Russia is not interested in peace, Zelensky says
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Volodymyr Zelensky has responded to Donald Trump‘s claim that he is preventing an end to the Ukraine war, saying Kyiv will “never be an obstacle to peace”.
The Ukrainian president spoke to Nato secretary general Mark Rutte on Thursday and said they discussed “diplomatic work with America“. And he pointed to Russia‘s ongoing “attempt to destroy Ukraine” with missiles and drones as evidence that Putin has no interest in stopping his invasion.
Earlier, Trump was asked why US-led negotiations had not yet resolved Europe‘s largest land conflict since the Second World War. He responded: “Zelensky”. He added that Putin “is ready to make a deal” while “Ukraine is less ready to make a deal”.
Ukraine continues to face attacks on its energy infrastructure, as Russia weaponises the bitter cold that grips the country each winter. Zelensky has declared an energy state of emergency, saying more work needs to be done to recover quickly after Russia’s strikes.
The UK on Friday announced it would provide Ukraine with a new £20m package of emergency support for its energy sector.
International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva met with top Ukrainian officials in frosty, snow-covered Kyiv on Thursday and inspected energy infrastructure damaged in Russian strikes as Ukraine nears the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion on 24 February.
In a surprise visit on Thursday, Georgieva said she expected to send a new $8.1bn lending program to the Fund’s board for approval in coming weeks.
Georgieva, who met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and others in the frozen capital, said in an interview that the program would help to unlock funds from other institutions for the war-torn country.
During the trip, kept secret until her arrival on a special VIP train before dawn, she honored fallen soldiers and inspected energy infrastructure hit by Russian strikes.
Georgieva said the situation in Ukraine had clearly worsened since officials signed a preliminary lending agreement in November, but the thrust of the program’s requirements would remain the same.
Britain has announced an urgent £20 million in emergency energy support for Ukraine.
It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared a state of emergency following sustained Russian attacks on the country’s vital power infrastructure.
Emergency crews have been working tirelessly to restore heating and electricity in Kyiv and other cities, which have been plunged into darkness and sub-zero temperatures by recent assaults.
The additional funding is earmarked to repair, restore, and protect Ukraine’s power grid throughout the winter months.
It aims to ensure that electricity and heating remain available for homes, hospitals, and schools amidst the harsh conditions.
President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France was now providing two-thirds of intelligence information to Ukraine, largely replacing the United States, which until last year had delivered the bulk of those services.
In March 2025, Washington made the decision to suspend intelligence sharing with Ukraine as part of efforts to crank up pressure on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to cooperate with President Donald Trump’s bid to convene peace talks with Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The relationship has had its ups and downs since, but there has been no indication that Washington has drastically cut its intelligence provision to Ukraine.
In a New Year’s speech to the French military, Macron praised Europe’s efforts over the last two years in taking over major strands of weapons support to Ukraine.
He said a coalition of some 35 countries was now providing all of the support, including financial, to Kyiv after Washington had decided to no longer fund or directly give weapons to Ukraine.
“Where Ukraine was extremely dependent on American intelligence capacity, huge majority (of it) a year ago, in (the space of) a year, two-thirds is today provided by France,” Macron said.
Russian forces have destroyed a large energy facility in Kharkiv, the mayor said of Ukraine’s second-biggest city said yesterday evening.
Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov did not specify what sort of facility had been hit, but said emergency crews were working around the clock.
Kharkiv, 25km (15 miles) from the Russian border, has been regularly targeted by drones, missiles and glide bombs throughout the war, which enters its fifth year next month.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, a day after criticising recovery efforts in the capital Kyiv, proceeded with a drive to tackle the damage inflicted by Russian strikes, chairing a meeting aimed at securing quick decisions from regional leaders.
He said there had been new strikes on Kyiv into the evening.
Volodymyr Zelensky has slammed the Kyiv city administration for how it has dealt with the crisis caused by Russian strikes in peak winter weeks as he declared a state of emergency.
“Unfortunately, Kyiv has done much less — very little has been done in the capital,” Zelensky said in his regular evening address after a special meeting on energy situation. “And even these days, I don’t see any urgency. We need to urgently rectify this now.”
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko took to Telegram to respond to Zelensky.
“What ‘intensity’ in the work in Kyiv in an emergency situation does the president not see, in particular, in recent days, as he said?” the top official said, adding that “utility workers are working around-the-clock in the bitter cold to repair critical infrastructure.”
“Such statements, first and foremost, negate the selfless work of thousands of people, specialists,” Klitschko said, calling Zelensky’s criticism “nothing but hate”.
“At least I am speaking honestly and warning people about the extremely difficult situation. And I don’t care about any ratings or illusory elections,” the mayor said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine is not an obstacle to peace, pushing back against comments made a day earlier by US president Donald Trump.
“We also talked about diplomatic work with America. Ukraine has never been and will never be an obstacle to peace,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address, referring to a telephone conversation with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.
In his comments, Zelensky said Russia’s continued attacks on Ukrainian energy sites and other targets demonstrated that Moscow did not want peace.
“It is precisely Russian missiles, Russian ‘Shaheds,’ (drones) and Russia’s attempt to destroy Ukraine that are clear evidence that Russia is not interested in agreements at all,” he said.
At least 27 Russian soldiers were killed for each Ukrainian soldier lost in the battle to regain the key city of Kupiansk, a recent intelligence assessment provided to the British military showed.
The kill ratio of 1:27 was given to British officials in a briefing with Ukrainian officials last week. The briefing was to share Kyiv’s ability to win back territory despite Moscow’s “meat grinder” tactics on the battlefield with sheer force of numbers.
As many as 200 Russian soldiers were surrounded by advancing Ukrainians in the battle for the northern city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv before Christmas, a defence source told The Times.
Ukraine last month regained the city and said it controlled nearly 90 per cent of the strategic northeastern town of Kupiansk.
The UK has announced a new emergency energy support of £20m for Ukraine after president Volodymyr Zelensky declared a state of emergency in the wake of relentless Russian attacks on the country’s power infrastructure.
The new emergency funding will be used to repair, restore and protect Ukraine’s power grid this winter, officials said this morning.
“Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, including children and schools have been left without heat and power as temperatures across Ukraine plummet to -20c,” the FCDO said in the announcement today.
It added: “The new support announced today will help respond to urgent needs to keep heat and power available for millions of families, children and the elderly after President Zelensky announced a state of emergency in Ukraine following prolonged attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector.”
Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on Thursday she was sceptical about the prospects of Ukraine and Russia reaching a ceasefire agreement, adding that Russia would not accept foreign troops on a peace mission there.
“(Russian president Vladimir) Putin does not seem to want peace,” Robles told an event in Madrid.
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