U.S. military aid pause will continue until Trump decides that Zelenskyi backs peace negotiations with Russia, The Wall Street Journal says. EU leaders will discuss troop deployment to Ukraine at Thursday\u2019s summit. Ukraine drones destroy Russia\u2019s Murom-M long-range surveillance system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pause of U.S. military aid to Ukraine will continue until Trump decides that Zelenskyi backs peace negotiations with Russia, The Wall Street Journal said Wednesday. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called his heated White House meeting with President Trump last week \u201cregrettable\u201d and set out his vision of a path to peace in his most concerted public effort yet to repair his relationship with the U.S. leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUkraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace,\u201d Zelensky wrote Tuesday on social media. \u201cNobody wants peace more than Ukrainians.\u201d He said Ukraine was ready to sign a mineral-rights agreement with the U.S. and negotiate \u201cunder President Trump\u2019s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior U.S. officials say it is unclear if Zelensky\u2019s statement will be enough to persuade Trump to restart U.S. military aid to Ukraine, which the White House halted Monday following his combative meeting with the Ukrainian leader three days earlier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the diplomatic implosion at the White House, European allies have been holding talks on plans to back Ukraine while pushing Zelensky to try to mend his relationship with Trump. European leaders and Zelensky have said that U.S. security guarantees for Kyiv are critical to any peace agreement. Trump has said he would only be willing to discuss such commitments after a cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump complained in recent private meetings that Zelensky had shown no intention of opening talks with Putin, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move to curtail aid temporarily was aimed at showing the Ukrainian leader that the White House was serious about brokering peace, they added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even signing a deal granting U.S. companies access to Ukrainian rare-earth minerals might not be enough to persuade Trump to resume aid, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
European officials fear a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia won\u2019t ultimately succeed in halting Moscow unless the White House agrees to guarantee Ukraine\u2019s survival, with continued military aid and even military action, if necessary. Trump officials have ruled out putting U.S. forces in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, Trump said he was \u201cworking tirelessly to end the savage conflict in Ukraine.\u201d He said he received the \u201cimportant letter\u201d from Zelensky earlier that day, saying that his country is ready to \u201ccome to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer.\u201d Trump said his administration has continued to talk to Russia about ending the war and has received \u201cstrong signals that they are ready for peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his nearly 100-minute speech, Trump said that although he supported Greenland\u2019s right to determine its future, he would welcome it into the United States. \u201cAnd I think we\u2019re going to get it \u2014 one way or the other, we\u2019re going to get it,\u201d he said in remarks. He also repeated his previous assertions about retaking the Panama Canal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump also said that he had imposed a \u201cfreeze on all foreign aid,\u201d and had withdrawn the United States from what he called the \u201cunfair\u201d Paris Climate Accord, the \u201ccorrupt\u201d World Health Organization and the \u201canti-American\u201d U.N. human rights council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
EU leaders at an emergency summit on Ukraine in Brussels on Thursday will begin to draft security guarantees for the country that include deployment of their countries\u2019 troops, the European Pravda said Wednesday, citing an unnamed EU official familiar with the meeting\u2019s agenda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leaders of EU countries are set to discuss the deployment of troops to Ukraine after the war ends or a ceasefire takes effect, the source said. The discussion is to include \u201cplanning\u201d of such a mission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There had been no debates on the matter, the source said, adding that some EU countries had publicly stated their willingness to send troops to Ukraine as part of security guarantees while others had opposed the prospect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EU official voiced hope that more countries will join the initiative during the summit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A decision to deploy troops to Ukraine can only be made after a peace deal is clear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s too early to talk about concrete decisions in a constantly evolving political context without a ceasefire and peace deal in place, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EU views support to Ukraine\u2019s Armed Forces as the first element of the security guarantees, so that the country can protect itself in case of a new aggression. The statement is part of the summit\u2019s draft conclusions, the source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the summit in London on Sunday, EU leaders said support to the Ukrainian military was the first tier of security guarantees to the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hungary has threatened to block any EU support for Ukraine at the summit on Thursday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
EU leaders are already bracing for a pro-Russia group of leaders led by Hungary\u2019s Viktor Orb\u00e1n derailing the whole thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian drones hit a Russian Murom-M long-range surveillance system near the city of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region, the Khortytsia operational-strategic group of forces said on Wednesday. The Falcon unit of the State Border Guard Service\u2019s Hart brigade was behind the operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe drone protection net that covered the system from all sides did not help the adversary,\u201d Khortytsia said in a statement. \u201cThe first two \u2018birds\u2019 that the Falcon drone pilots launched cut a hole in it, while the third one destroyed the system completely,\u201d it added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian military personnel and a vehicle they used to take infantry troops and munitions to the positions also came under fire during the drone strike, the statement reads.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"