Ukraine has successfully tested its own domestic-made ballistic missile, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as the country aims to turn the tide of the war against Russia with the help of more advanced weapons.
Zelensky made the announcement at a forum in Kiev on Tuesday, but beyond congratulating the Ukrainian defence industry on the project did not offer any other details.
The military has hinted at such weapons in the past.
Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said on Monday, after a massive barrage of Russian drones and missiles, that Ukraine had developed home-grown long-range weapons.
At the weekend, Zelensky presented another Ukrainian-made weapon, the jet-powered, high-speed Palyanytsya combat drone.
F-16 fighter jets supplied by the West were used in the defence against the heavy Russian attacks this week, Zelensky said on Tuesday.
He also once again urged allies to remove restrictions on how Ukraine can use the weapons they supply, such as long-range missiles that can hit targets well inside Russian territory.
Ukrainian to brief NATO on air defence needs
NATO is to meet with Umerov via video-link to discuss the country’s air defence needs in response to recent heavy Russian airstrikes.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the meeting for Wednesday at the request of Ukraine, Farah Dakhlallah, a spokesperson for the alliance said in a statement.
The meeting, held by NATO allies’ ambassador’s to the alliance, comes after the deadly Russian attacks targeting civilians and infrastructure in Ukraine on Monday and Tuesday, Dakhlallah said.
Umerov is to brief the allies’ representatives “on the battlefield situation and priority capability needs,” Dakhlallah said, adding that NATO is “committed to further bolstering Ukraine’s defences.”
Zelensky: Dialogue with Putin would be ‘meaningless’
Zelensky also said on Tuesday in Kiev that peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be “empty” and “meaningless.”
“The world is waiting for Ukraine to present a compromise plan on how to end the war tomorrow,” he said.
“It’s not that there are no compromises with Putin, but with Putin the dialogue today is empty, meaningless, because he doesn’t want to end the war diplomatically,” argued Zelensky.
Putin might be willing to engage in diplomatic negotiations, Zelensky said, but his pre-condition is for Kiev to recognize Russia’s capture of 30% of Ukrainian territory.
“We will not play along with him,” added Zelensky.
The Ukrainian president said his forces’ advance into the southern Russian region of Kursk three weeks ago has silenced Kiev’s critics.
Ukraine presented its own pathway to peace at a summit in Switzerland in June. The plan envisages the withdrawal of Russian troops from all areas of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula. Russia would also agree to pay reparations and make its political and military leaders accountable to an international court.
Hundreds of Russian prisoners taken since start of Kursk push
The Ukrainian army has taken almost 600 prisoners of war since the beginning of its advance into Kursk, its commander-in-chief Olexsandr Syrskyi said on Tuesday.
Ukraine has thus significantly replenished its fund for the exchange of prisoners, the general said at the conference in Kiev, according to media reports.
After three weeks, his troops were in control of 100 villages and almost 1,300 square kilometres of Russian territory, Syrskyi said.
Military observers assume that the area is not quite that large. Also Ukrainian soldiers would not be able to control their rear lines everywhere after advancing so quickly, they say.
Russia has now sent almost 30,000 soldiers to the Kursk region to defend against the Ukrainian advance, and more are on the way, Syrskyi said.
In this respect the Ukrainian plan is working as Moscow has to redeploy troops to the Kursk region, he said.
But Russian attacks, especially in the Donetsk region, where the Ukrainian army is under heavy pressure, have not slowed down.
