Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has rejected talk of making a deal with Russia without Kyiv's approval after Hungarian Prime Minister met with President Vladimir Putin as Ukraine's embattled troops continue to suffer from inadequate defenses in the face of a Russian onslaught in the east.
Zelenskiy arrived on July 18 in central England for the European Political Community (EPC) summit at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Britain's World War II leader Winston Churchill.
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The Ukrainian leader wasted little time in calling on those in attendance "to maintain unity in Europe because always this unity leads to strong decisions."
Zelenskiy's comments come after Orban -- who is also at the summit -- embarked on what he called a "peace mission," during which he made stops in Moscow, Kyiv, Beijing, and at the Florida residence of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The global tour rankled most European leaders, who have repeatedly distanced themselves from Orban's trip, while the Hungarian leader himself has acknowledged that he has no authority to act on the behalf of other EU members, even though Hungary currently holds the bloc's rotating presidency.
"If someone in Europe tries to resolve issues behind others' backs or even at the expense of someone else, if someone wants to make some trips to the capital of war to talk and perhaps promise something against our common interests or at the expense of Ukraine or other countries, then why should we consider such a person?" Zelenskiy said at the summit on July 18.
"The EU and NATO can also address all their issues without this one individual."
Orban on July 18 released a letter he wrote to the heads of EU countries in which he said the warring parties were unlikely to search for a way out of the conflict without significant external involvement from the European Union, the United States, and China. But he said the EU "has copied the pro-war policy of the U.S.," and should break with Washington and pursue efforts for a cease-fire.
The letter, which had been leaked to the media earlier this week, also said Trump was ready to act "immediately" as a peace broker if he beats incumbent Joe Biden in the November 5 vote.
Trump has suggested that if he wins the U.S. presidential election in November he will resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict in one day. He has not elaborated on how he would accomplish such a feat, but many European leaders have said they fear the former president would agree with Putin on a peace plan without consulting with Kyiv.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Western help for Ukraine must be a joint effort between North America and Europe.
"European allies and Canada can of course do more, but it's extremely important that the United States continues to provide support to Ukraine," Stoltenberg told AFP on the sidelines of the summit. "The United States is by far the biggest ally. So, I expect them to continue to support Ukraine."
At the summit, Zelenskiy called for Western allies to lift the restrictions on long-range strikes into Russia, particularly military airfields, and for Western allies' air defenses to protect Ukraine as they protected Israel in April when it was hit with a barrage of Iranian missiles and drones.
Zelenskiy mentioned France, Britain, and the United States -- countries that provided air-defense systems and fighter jets that helped shoot down over 300 Iranian missiles and drones in Israeli airspace.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected the requests and said they were "out of the question."
Zelenskiy said in a post on social media that Ukraine will sign an intergovernmental agreement on support for the Ukrainian defense and industrial complex, discuss future defense cooperation, and expand Kyiv's defense capabilities while at the summit. He gave no details.
Keir Starmer, the first Labour Party prime minister in 14 years, has signaled that his government will continue London's policy of robust military and diplomatic support for Ukraine in its ongoing war to defeat Russian invaders.
The summit comes amid reports of difficulties faced by Ukrainian defenders on the eastern and southeastern front, mainly in the area of the Dnieper River northeast of Kherson city, where Kyiv had managed to establish a fragile bridgehead on the eastern bank of the river late last year.
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Ukrainian troops liberated Kherson, which lies on the western banks of the Dnieper, in November 2022, pushing Russian forces across the Dnieper, but the city continues to be targeted by enemy fire.
Ukrainian media in recent days reported that Krynky, a small town on the eastern bank of the Dnieper where Ukrainian marines and paratroopers landed in November 2023, had been abandoned after Kyiv suffered serious casualties.
But Dmytro Lykhoviy, a spokesman for Ukraine's Tavria group of troops, brushed aside a report by the Slidstvo.info publication, which on July 17 wrote that 788 Ukrainian soldiers have been missing in action since November, while the bodies of only 262 fallen troops could be recovered and transported across the river on the side controlled by Ukraine.
"The situation is not as critical as some media and bloggers interpret it. In this regard, our key message is, the defense forces of Ukraine continue to carry out combat missions on the left bank of the Dnieper. In particular, in the area of the settlement of Krynky," Lykhoviy said on state television.
"However, it is true that most of the main positions of Ukrainian troops in this village have been completely destroyed as a result of intense, combined, long-term enemy fire," he added.
Moscow had claimed in February that its troops had already pushed back Ukrainian forces from Krynky.
Neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian claims could be independently confirmed.
Separately, Russia's Defense Ministry said that its air and naval defenses on July 18 repelled a combined attack of Ukrainian air and naval drones that targeted occupied Crimea.
In a message on Telegram, the ministry said that air defenses shot down 33 drones over Crimea and two over the Bryansk region.
The Russian Navy, meanwhile, said it destroyed 10 Ukrainian naval drones that were heading in the direction of the Crimean Peninsula. Separately, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed head of Sevastopol, Crimea's largest port, said a naval drone heading for the port was destroyed.
Ukraine has not commented on the Russian claims.
In Kyiv, the Ukrainian Air Force said its air defenses shot down all 16 drones and two out of three cruise missiles that Russia had launched at targets in the Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Zaporizhzhya, Kyiv, and Kharkiv regions.