KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥 Russia and Ukraine traded heavy aerial blows overnight, with both sides on Saturday reporting more than 100 enemy drones over their respective territories.
The attacks comes less than 24 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with to discuss details of the American proposal for in the .
Putin told a press conference on Thursday that but set out a host of details that need to be clarified before it is agreed. Kyiv has already endorsed the truce proposal, although Ukrainian officials have publicly raised doubts as to whether Moscow will commit to such a deal.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv on Saturday, after between Western allies hosted by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Zelenskyy voiced Ukraine鈥檚 support for the 30-day full ceasefire proposal to discuss a longer-term peace plan, but said Russia would attempt to derail talks with conditions and 鈥渂uts鈥.
Starmer has told allies to 鈥渒eep the pressure鈥 on Putin to back a ceasefire in Ukraine, hailing Ukraine as the 鈥減arty of peace.鈥 Starmer said Putin will 鈥渟ooner or later鈥 have to 鈥渃ome to the table.
In a statement earlier on Saturday, Zelenskyy had accused Moscow of building up forces along the border.
鈥淭he build up of Russian forces indicates that Moscow intends to keep ignoring diplomacy. It is clear that Russia is prolonging the war,鈥 he said.
However, Zelenskyy stressed that if Russia did not agree with the U.S. proposal there would be 鈥渟pecific, harsh and straightforward鈥 response from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
He also said that Kyiv鈥檚 troops were maintaining after Trump said Friday that 鈥渢housands鈥 of Ukrainian troops had been surrounded by the Russian military.
鈥淭he operation of our forces in the designated areas of the Kursk region continues,鈥 Zelenskyy said. 鈥淥ur troops continue to hold back Russian and North Korean groupings in the Kursk region. There is no encirclement of our troops.鈥
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke Saturday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In the call, they discussed next steps to follow up on recent meetings in Saudi Arabia and agreed to continue working towards restoring communication between the United States and Russia, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
Ukraine鈥檚 air force said Saturday that Russia had launched a barrage of 178 drones and two ballistic missiles over the country overnight. The attack was a mixture of Shahed-type drones and imitation drones designed to confuse air defenses. Some 130 drones were shot down, while 38 more failed to reach their targets.
Russia attacked energy facilities, causing significant damage, striking energy infrastructure in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, Ukraine鈥檚 private energy company DTEK said in a statement on Saturday. Some residents were left without electricity.
鈥淭he damage is significant. Energy workers are already working on the ground. We are doing everything possible to restore power to homes as soon as possible,鈥 the energy firm said.
Falling drone debris in Russia鈥檚 Volgograd region sparked a fire in the Krasnoarmeysky district of the city, close to a Lukoil oil refinery, according to Gov. Andrei Bocharov, who provided no further details. Nearby airports temporarily halted flights, local media outlets reported. No casualties were reported.
The Volgograd refinery has been targeted by Kyiv鈥檚 forces on several occasions since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, most recently in a drone attack on Feb. 15.
___ Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report. ___
Follow AP鈥檚 coverage of the war in Ukraine at
