MOSCOW: The Kremlin said it saw “positive signals” from US president-elect Donald Trump regarding his readiness to reach an agreement to end the conflict, and Russia and Ukraine launched record drone attacks on one another overnight.
Trump’s ascension to the White House has raised doubts about Washington’s multibillion-dollar support for Kyiv and has the potential to end the nearly three-year-old crisis in Ukraine.
In a significant departure from President Joe Biden’s strategy, Trump stated throughout the campaign that he could put an end to the conflict in a matter of hours and has stated that he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, claimed that Russia launched 145 drones during the course of the night, more than in any other nighttime assault.
Overnight, a record 145 drones were launched at Ukraine.
Zelensky posted on social media, “Russia launched a record 145 Shaheds and other strike drones against Ukraine last night.”
In the biggest attempted attack on the capital, Russia claimed to have shot down 34 Ukrainian attack drones aimed toward Moscow.
“Good signs”
The Kremlin is thought to have wanted Trump to return to the White House, praising his skepticism about U.S. help to Ukraine and his unpredictable leadership style, despite openly claiming to be supporting Kamala Harris in the US polls.
“The signs are encouraging. In an interview, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared, “Trump talked about how he views everything through deals, that he can make a deal that can lead to peace.”
“At least he is discussing peace rather than conflict. “What sets him apart from the current administration is that he isn’t discussing his desire to give Russia a strategic defeat,” Peskov continued.
However, he cautioned about Trump’s unpredictable nature. Peskov stated that Trump was “less predictable” than Biden and Harris, adding that it was difficult to foresee what would happen next.
Trump has not specified the terms he is offering or how he plans to negotiate a peace agreement.
As a “precondition” for peace negotiations, Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for Ukraine to leave large areas of its eastern and southern territory.
Zelensky cautioned that there should be “no concessions” to Putin once Trump was elected, stating that granting him property or caving in to any of his other requests would just give the Kremlin greater confidence and encourage further aggression.
“Massive” assault
According to AFP’s examination of statistics from the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russia’s troops achieved their biggest territorial advances since March 2022 in October, coinciding with talk of a US-brokered agreement.
On Sunday, Moscow’s defense ministry declared that it had taken control of another settlement in the east of Ukraine.
Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow area, described Kyiv’s planned drone strike on Moscow as “massive,” the heaviest attack on the Russian capital during the conflict.
According to officials, it caused two houses in the Moscow region’s Stanovoye village to catch fire, injured a 52-year-old lady, and forced the temporary closure of three airports.
According to the defense ministry, over the course of three hours in six regions, Russia’s air defense destroyed 70 Ukrainian drones. 34 were reported to have been shot down over the Moscow region, with the remaining ones falling over Bryansk, Orlov, Kaluga, Tula, and Kursk.
According to local officials, the drones were shot down in the districts of Ramenskoye, Kolomna, and Domodedovo in the Moscow region.
The first time a Ukrainian strike near the city has claimed a life was in September, when a lady was killed in Ramenskoye in the previous biggest drone attack on or near Moscow.
