Ukraine-Russia warfare newest: Zelensky claims there’s ‘toxic atmosphere’ in Putin’s internal circle after battlefield failures
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed aides to his counterpart in Moscow Vladimir Putin have signalled to him that the Kremlin leader is isolated over the war, and said a “toxic atmosphere” surrounded the Russian president.
“The situation on the front, together with our long-range sanctions and mid-range strikes, is creating a new atmosphere around Putin,” Mr Zelensky wrote on social media.
“A very toxic atmosphere… Putin alone is responsible for the losses Russians continue to suffer.
“His retinue understands this – they are signalling it to us and to our partners.”
Earlier, Ukraine’s new top commander said the armed forces had been told to press harder with their counteroffensives as Kyiv navigated the fallout of a major shake-up at the top of its military leadership.
Mykhailo Drapatyi replaced sacked general Oleksandr Syrskyi as commander-in-chief.
Meanwhile, Russia has struck an energy facility in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region, leaving more than 100,000 people without power.
Watch: Wildberries: Huge fires as Zelensky launches new attacks on Russian warehouses
Rubio and Lavrov wrap up meeting in Manila
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and US secretary of state Marco Rubio have held their meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN forum in Manila, the TASS news agency reported.
The meeting lasted over half an hour, it added. Details of what was discussed are yet to be released.
Earlier Rubio told reporters in Manila that he planned to raise the conflict in Ukraine with Lavrov, saying that the US remained open to playing a role in ending the conflict “if that opportunity presents itself”.
German nuclear fuel plant cleared to work with Russia’s Rosatom
A German nuclear fuel assembly plant has won regulatory approval to jointly produce fuel with Russia’s state-owned Rosatom, underscoring how the nuclear sector remains largely exempt from European sanctions on Russia.
A federal state regulator cleared Advanced Nuclear Fuels, part of French nuclear power company Framatome, a subsidiary of EDF, to produce fuel rods in Lingen, Lower Saxony, for Russian-designed nuclear power plants with Rosatom, Germany’s federal environment ministry said on Wednesday.
The federal ministry said it regretted the collaboration but added the regulator legally had no choice but to give its go-ahead.
There is so far no EU agreement on an extension of sanctions on Russia to the nuclear power sector but Germany was working towards that, a ministry spokesperson told Reuters.
Russia rules out giving up Ukraine territory in peace deal – report
Russian president Vladimir Putin still insists he will keep all occupied Ukrainian territory as part of any peace deal to end the war, according to a report.
Sources close to the Kremlin said Putin wants to hold these occupied regions near the border and use them as buffer zones, reported Bloomberg.
At the same time, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has also ruled out formally ceding any territory illegally occupied by Russia since the war began in 2022.
In June Putin signalled that Russia was ready to reach a compromise to end the war, but no details were shared.
Putin facing ‘toxic atmosphere’ at home amid Russian losses, says Zelensky
Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is under pressure as a result of his country’s losses in the war on Ukraine.
“He alone is the reason this war began and hasn’t ended. Putin alone is responsible for the losses Russians continue to suffer,” Zelensky said in his nightly address.
“The situation on the front, together with our long-range sanctions and mid-range strikes, is creating a new atmosphere around Putin. A very toxic atmosphere,” he said.
Zelensky said Russian society is starting to feel the impacts of the war more than ever. “His retinue understands this – they are signalling it to us and to our partners. Russian society is beginning to feel it more and more as well. We need decisions to bring about peace.”
Watch: Two killed in Zaporizhzhia and nine injured in latest Russian attack on residential building
Russia bans vessel movement at night at major port amid Ukraine drone attacks
Russia has introduced a temporary ban on vessel movements in and out of the port of Novorossiysk between midnight and 5am because of Ukrainian drone attacks, three grain industry sources said on Wednesday.
Novorossiysk is Russia’s biggest port by volume and handles up to one third of Russia’s grain exports. The ban follows traffic restrictions introduced earlier this month in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait.
The sources said the order was verbal and that no official document had been sent to shippers. They said the port was functioning as usual outside the restricted night-time hours, and grain shipments had not been affected.
A government order published on 21 July banned vessels from anchoring in areas without air defences at the port of Azov in the Sea of Azov and the port of Kavkaz in the Kerch Strait.
US to pitch ending Ukraine war as Rubio meets Lavrov today
US secretary of state Marco Rubio is set to meet today with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in the Philippines, where he’s expected to renew the prospect of the US trying to broker an end to the war in Ukraine.
The meeting between Rubio and Lavrov is slated to occur on the sidelines of a gathering by Southeast Asian foreign ministers, among the most high-profile side meetings the region’s top diplomats were having at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations event in Manila.
Rubio told reporters in Manila yesterday that he plans to raise the conflict in Ukraine with Lavrov, saying that the US remained open to playing a role in ending the conflict “if that opportunity presents itself.”
He acknowledged that those efforts have “kind of fallen off a little bit over the last few months” but said the meeting would explore whether there’s an opportunity to renew talks.
“We have to have a relationship with the Russian government, even though we have areas of disagreement,” Rubio said, noting that they are two largest nuclear-armed countries.
Lavrov, speaking to reporters at the ASEAN meeting, said he would ask Rubio about the latest statements by US president Donald Trump predicting that a settlement is getting close.
“I will ask Marco Rubio about it tomorrow,” Lavrov said.
Zelensky discusses weapons and diplomacy in talks with US envoys
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spoke yesterday about the prospects for pursuing more active diplomacy and moving towards an accord to end the more than four-year-old war with Russia.
Both the Ukrainian leader and the White House confirmed the telephone conversation took place.
US-brokered diplomacy in the war has stalled with Washington largely focused on the conflict with Iran.
“I just spoke with President Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff @SEPeaceMissions and Jared Kushner @jaredkushner,” Zelensky wrote in a post on X.
“It was a good, important conversation on how to reinvigorate diplomacy and bring peace closer. Peace is needed – peace with dignity, and Ukraine has long been ready for it,” he said, adding that both sides would stay in close contact.
“I am, frankly, asking for faster action and greater support.”
Posting earlier on X, he said securing Patriot interceptor supplies was a “critical priority now, as massive Russian attacks continue unabated.”
Zelensky asks US for faster action on Patriot air defence production
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky says he has discussed licences for Patriot air defence system production with US ambassador to Nato Matthew Whitaker, to protect Ukrainian cities from missile attacks.
“These past months have been extremely difficult…That is exactly what we discussed with Ambassador Whitaker today – production licences, missiles and everything else that is needed,” Mr Zelensky said in his address.
“I am, frankly, asking for faster action and greater support.”
Earlier, he wrote that securing Patriot interceptor supplies was a “critical priority now, as massive Russian attacks continue unabated”.
President Donald Trump agreed during a meeting with Mr Zelensky at the Nato summit in Turkey this month that the United States would grant Ukraine a licence to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors.
Source: independent.co.uk
