Ukraine said it had asked US president Donald Trump to give a “significant” boost to its war effort by approving the supply of long-range missiles, amid reports that he had already decided to give intelligence data to Kyiv to aid its strikes on energy facilities deep inside Russia.
“We spoke with the United States, we are very thankful to president Trump for this dialogue. Last time we had a very good meeting, very productive dialogue and we spoke about long-range missiles,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday. “So we will see ... It is significant.”
After the two leaders met last week in New York, Mr Trump offered a surprisingly bullish assessment of Ukraine’s prospects in the war, having previously told Mr Zelenskiy that his country could not beat Russia and upbraided him for not seeking a peace deal even on onerous terms.
“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Mr Trump wrote on social media.
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US officials say he is considering whether to allow Ukraine to acquire Tomahawk cruise missiles, which could strike Moscow and most of the European part of Russia with their range of 2,500km.
The Kremlin said this week that Tomahawks would not prevent Russia winning the war, and on Thursday played down the significance of reports stating that Mr Trump had given the green light for Kyiv to receive US intelligence to help with its frequent strikes on large Russian oil and gas facilities, which have caused severe fuel shortages in parts of Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine.
“The US transmits intelligence to Ukraine on a constant basis, it’s nothing new,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “It is obvious that ... the whole infrastructure of the US and Nato is involved in gathering and passing intelligence to Ukraine.”
Kyiv accused Moscow of risking a nuclear disaster after a drone strike cut power to the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Wednesday night, and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia atomic power station continued to rely on emergency diesel generators after more than a week without external electricity supplies.
Mr Zelenskiy said the Chernobyl plant – which includes stored radioactive waste and the enclosed remains of the reactor that exploded in the world’s worst nuclear accident in 1986 – was without power for three hours after an attack on a nearby town.
“The Russians could not have been unaware that striking facilities in Slavutych would have such consequences for Chernobyl. And this was a deliberate strike, involving more than 20 drones ... The attack was specifically executed as a wave to complicate the facility’s defence,” he said.
“Meanwhile, the blackout at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant continues into its eighth day. It began due to Russian shelling in the area of the plant, and the Russians are doing absolutely nothing to rectify the situation or allow Ukrainian specialists to restore external power,” he added, accusing the world of paying too little attention to the issue and the International Atomic Energy Agency of adopting a “weak stance”.
“Every day that Russia prolongs the war, refuses to implement a full and reliable ceasefire and continues striking all objects of our energy infrastructure – including those critical to the safety of nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities – is a global threat.”
Russia says Ukrainian shelling destroyed power lines near the plant and is preventing repair work, but insists there are no immediate safety fears for the six-reactor complex.
