German media: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy reiterates willingness to meet with Putin

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy stated in his latest speech that he is willing to hold a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Putin to promote the achievement of lasting peace. Previously, Trump warned that if Russia did not reach a peace agreement with Ukraine within 50 days, the United States would impose "severe" secondary sanctions.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy reiterated his willingness to hold a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Putin. "To achieve real and lasting peace, it is necessary to hold meetings at the level of leaders," he said in his latest video address released on Saturday. He further pointed out that the ceasefire negotiations need to be injected with new momentum. The secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Umerov has proposed to Moscow the hope that a meeting will be held next week.

According to the Russian state news agency TASS, a source close to the Russian negotiation team confirmed that the Kremlin has received the relevant proposal from Kyiv. After US President Trump issued an ultimatum to Russia to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days, Moscow recently also expressed a willingness in principle to restart dialogue with Kyiv. Trump threatened that if no peace talks are conducted, economic sanctions will be imposed on countries that conduct trade with Russia.

In addition, the US president also announced that he would provide Ukraine with new "Patriot" air defense systems, but the cost of this will be borne by Germany and other European NATO allies. In order to further pressure Moscow, the EU announced on Friday the implementation of the 18th round of sanctions against Russia.

Istanbul talks still have no substantial results

Russian and Ukrainian representatives directly met in Istanbul, Turkey in May and June this year. However, both sides only achieved specific results in the exchange of prisoners of war and the return of fallen soldiers, and made no progress in ceasefire negotiations.

In the June talks, the Russian side reiterated its hardline position, including demanding the West to stop providing military aid to Ukraine, as well as the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from four Ukrainian regions that Russia claims sovereignty over. Ukraine firmly rejected these demands, considering them "completely unacceptable."

Ukraine launches drone attacks on Moscow

Meanwhile, the attack actions of both sides continue. Russian authorities said that on Sunday (July 20) early morning, Ukraine launched another drone attack on the capital Moscow and other areas. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that a total of 93 drones were shot down, 19 of which were intercepted over the Moscow region. TASS reported that flights at four airports in Moscow were temporarily suspended because of this. There are currently no reports of casualties. The target of such attacks by the Ukrainian army is mainly to strike Russian rear supply lines.

The Ukrainian Air Force stated that on Saturday (July 19) early morning, Russia fired a total of 344 combat drones or decoy targets, as well as 35 missiles. Of these, 208 were successfully intercepted.

In the central Dnipropetrovsk region, missile attacks resulted in two deaths. The governor of the region, Sergey Lysak, stated that a clinic, a school, and a cultural institution in the village of Vasylivka were destroyed in the attack, and residential houses and cars were also damaged.

In the Black Sea port city of Odessa, local emergency services reported that a woman was killed in a drone attack.

Sources: DW

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1838241639463946/

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