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By Staff Writer
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Vladimir Putin of abandoning planned peace talks after the United States decided against sending long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv, suggesting Moscow’s interest in diplomacy evaporated the moment the missile threat was taken off the table.
The move has led to claims that Vladimir Putin used the prospect of talks with Donald Trump as a ruse to buy time and halt the possible delivery of Tomahawks, which Kyiv has described as a crucial deterrent against Russian strikes.
After Russia abruptly pulled out of the talks, Zelensky said Moscow’s behaviour showed its real motives.
“The front line can spark diplomacy. Instead, Russia continues to do everything to weasel out of diplomacy, and as soon as the issue of long-range capabilities for us — for Ukraine — became less immediate, Russia’s interest in diplomacy faded almost automatically,” he said during his daily video address. “This signals that this very issue — the issue of our deep strike capabilities — may hold the indispensable key to peace.”
The planned talks had been agreed following Zelensky’s meeting with Trump in Washington last week, where both leaders discussed the possibility of holding dialogue “along the current front line.”
“We held a meeting with the President of the United States, and we agreed to try to organise the dialogue exactly like that – along the current front line. That was precisely the signal President Trump conveyed to his team. It was also made public,” Zelensky said in a statement released by the Presidential Office of Ukraine.
Trump had told reporters ahead of the meeting that he hoped to avoid escalating the war by deploying the missiles.
“It’s not easy for us to give … you’re talking about massive numbers of very powerful weapons,” he said. “So, that’s one of the things we’ll be talking about, hopefully, they won’t need it, hopefully, we’ll be able to get the war over with, without thinking about Tomahawks.”
Zelensky said Russia’s reaction to the discussion made clear that Tomahawks were “precisely the card they take seriously.”
“The greater Ukraine’s long-range reach, the greater Russia’s willingness to end the war. These weeks reaffirmed it. The discussion on Tomahawks turned out to be a major investment in diplomacy because it forced Russia to show what it takes seriously,” he said.
He added that Ukraine would continue engaging with its Western partners on long-range capabilities, while prioritising air defence.
“Air defence is, of course, the top priority,” he said. Zelensky also confirmed preparations for new defence agreements with European partners and said Ukraine was finalising a contract with the United States for a long-term supply of Patriot air defence systems.
“Preparation is also underway for a contract with the United States for a sufficient number of Patriot systems for us, both in the near term and over the longer period,” he said.
The collapse of the talks came just hours before a heavy overnight Russian air assault that killed at least six people, including two children, according to Ukrainian officials. The attack struck several cities, including Kyiv and Kharkiv, where a kindergarten was directly hit.
At least one drone hit the building in Kharkiv while nearly 50 children were inside.
“Fortunately, the children were in shelter during the alarm, and they were not injured,” the local governor said on Telegram. “In total, 48 children were rescued by the State Emergency Service units. Four people were hospitalised, two of them in serious condition.”
Images released by emergency services showed firefighters carrying terrified toddlers to safety from the destroyed building. Kharkiv’s regional authorities said one person had been killed and nine injured in the strikes on the city. Dozens more were rescued in Kyiv after drones and debris struck high-rise apartment blocks.
Zelensky said the latest wave of strikes showed Russia “doesn’t feel enough pressure for dragging out the war.”
Meanwhile, Trump, who has been pushing for a swift resolution to the war, told reporters last week he expected to meet with Putin “within two weeks or so.” However, a White House official later clarified there were “no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future,” following what was described as a “productive” call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“Therefore, an additional in-person meeting between the Secretary and Foreign Minister is not necessary, and there are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future,” the official said.
Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine “has once again expressed its readiness, readiness to end the war,” suggesting Putin’s sudden withdrawal from peace talks was a calculated move to test Washington’s resolve.
