Ukraine to get Patriot missiles from allies

KYIV/MOSCOW — Ukraine is contracting a supply of around 1,000 missiles for US-designed Patriot air defense systems with the help of allies and through a European Union loan, Kyiv's defense minister said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, Yevhenii Khmara also said the majority of the missiles would only be shipped in the coming years, and called for more urgent aid.

In comments posted later by the Defense Ministry, Khmara said Ukraine was asking its Western partners to provide more air defense missiles from their stocks in exchange for improvements in missile performance under contracts signed with Kyiv.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told the meeting that Ukraine's allies had no choice but to boost their support to enable Kyiv "to seize the opportunities it is creating now across all fronts and to defend itself in the skies".

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump on Tuesday held a telephone conversation that was "constructive and very frank", Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said.

Ushakov said the call lasted exactly one hour, adding that during the conversation, Putin stressed that Russia has no hostile intentions toward European countries.

Promising prospects

Ushakov said Trump, for his part, stressed the need to end the Ukraine conflict, a move that would immediately open broad and promising prospects for the full restoration of Russia-US relations.

When asked for further details, Ushakov said the conversation was strictly confidential.

On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia hopes that peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, mediated by the United States, will resume in the near future.

No such talks have taken place since February.

The Kremlin will not publicly discuss potential elements of a possible peace settlement, Peskov added.

On the battlefield, the Russian defense ministry said on Wednesday that its forces had struck a Ukrainian cargo vessel carrying military equipment in the Black Sea en route to the port of Odesa, as well as a warehouse in Kyiv, belonging to a company manufacturing drones, Russian news agencies reported.

Governor of the southern Krasnodar region Veniamin Kondratyev said on Wednesday on Telegram that four people, including one child, have been killed and 29 injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's city of Novorossiysk.

For the Ukrainian side, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Russia pummeled Kyiv with drones and missiles on Tuesday, resuming airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital after a brief halt during the visit of US peace negotiators, and killing five people.

The overnight attack caused fires in several districts across the Ukrainian capital, damaging at least 14 high-rise buildings, officials said.

The state emergency services said 35 people were injured in the capital.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hopes to see a resumption of Ukraine-Russia talks, his spokesperson said on Tuesday.

At the same time, Guterres remains deeply concerned by the continuing attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and Russia.

He calls for their immediate end and urges the sides to ensure conditions conducive to the continuation of diplomatic efforts, said the spokesman.

AGENCIES-XINHUA