Volgograd, Russia – Military escalation between Russia and Ukraine continues on Saturday.
This comes despite international efforts sponsored by US President Donald Trump to stop the war. The conflict has been ongoing since February (February) 2022.
On the ground.. The governor of the Russian Volgograd region, Andrei Bocharov, announced that 3 people, including a child, were injured. This was a result of a Ukrainian march attack on the region.
“On the night of August 23, Russian air defense systems repelled a large-scale attack on the territory of Volgograd Oblast,” Bocharov said.
He added that the attack injured 3 people, including a child.
This comes as the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that air defense systems destroyed, last night, 7 Ukrainian marches in the airspace of Rostov and Volgograd provinces. They also destroyed marches over Krasnodar Territory.
The ministry said in a statement on Saturday: “During the past night.. Air defense systems destroyed 7 Ukrainian drones: 4 marches over the territory of Rostov Oblast, 2 marches over the territory of Volgograd Oblast, and 1 march over the territory of Krasnodar Territory.
Moscow launched an intense attack on Ukraine from Wednesday night to Thursday using marches and missiles.
The Ukrainian Air Force said that Moscow used 574 drones and 40 missiles, a record number since mid-July (July).
These strikes resulted in deaths and injuries, and explosions were heard in Kiev throughout the night.
The chances of holding a summit between Russia and Ukraine declined on Friday. US President Trump announced he would take an “important” decision within two weeks. This decision may include imposing sanctions on Russia.
This comes amid faltering US mediation efforts.
After the US President announced at the beginning of the week that Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, who met separately recently, agreed to a proposal to hold a summit between them, he again likened them on Friday to “oil and water”. He stressed that bringing them together in a joint meeting is extremely difficult.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there was “no plan to hold a meeting” between the two presidents.
Meanwhile, Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Mark Rutte, visited Kiev. He aimed to discuss files, most notably possible security guarantees for Ukraine.
“In two weeks we’ll know which way I’m going,” Trump noted.
“It will be a very important decision, and it will be either massive sanctions or tariffs or both, or we will do nothing and say, ‘This is your fight,'” he explained.
Trump revealed that he may invite the Russian leader to attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in the United States. This is contingent on progress being made regarding Ukraine.
Live conversations.. “Russian skepticism”
Lavrov also dampened hopes for direct talks between Putin and Zelensky to resolve the conflict, which has entered its fourth year.
This was done by questioning the legitimacy of the Ukrainian president and repeating the Kremlin’s hardline demands.
In Kiev, Zelensky, speaking alongside Rutte, said Ukraine “has no agreements with the Russians”.
He pointed out that his country only agreed with Trump on how to move forward with diplomatic efforts.
On Thursday, the Ukrainian president accused Russia of “trying to evade holding a meeting”. He added that Moscow wants to continue the attack.
The issue of potential security guarantees for Ukraine topped the diplomatic efforts led by Washington. These efforts aim to mediate a peace agreement ending the war.
Zelensky, who wants foreign forces in Ukraine to deter future Russian attacks, said, “When Russia raises the issue of security guarantees, I frankly do not yet know who is threatening it”.
The Kremlin has repeatedly stressed that it will never accept this. It cites Ukraine’s ambitions to join NATO as one of the pretexts for attacking it.
During his visit to Kiev, Rutte said security guarantees were needed to ensure “Russia’s compliance with any agreement”.
