Ukraine’s Zelenskiy says Russia engaged in a new troop buildup

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Russia was engaged in a new troop buildup along certain sectors of the frontline and was still launching strikes on Ukrainian targets.

“Now we see another buildup of Russian forces in certain sectors of the front. He refuses to be forced into peace,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, referring to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskiy provided no further details, but said “Russia continues to launch strikes. Of course, we will respond to this.”

He said Russian forces had targeted Ukraine with 150 drones overnight, more than 50 in the morning and “dozens” more in the evening.

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New drone attacks, he said, amounted to “an accompaniment to Russian statements from China,” a reference to Putin’s visit to Beijing, where President Xi Jinping is hosting the Russian leader and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

“Yesterday, the Russians literally denied what (U.S. President Donald) Trump said about the leaders’ meeting needed to end the war. In China, Putin is continuing to spin tales as if he not guilty for the war,” said Zelenskiy.

Zelenskiy has long backed Trump’s call for a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents as a step towards ending the war, launched by Russia’s invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. Russia has said no suitable agenda has been set for such a meeting.