Ukraine’s president on Wednesday urged Western backers to speed up deliveries of air defence systems to counter Russian strikes. Advertisement The emphasis should be on US-made Patriot systems, President Volodymyr Zelenskky told a Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels. “These are the most effective way to force Russia to stop its missile strikes and terror,” he said, urging representatives of around 50 countries to make good on pledges.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth did not attend. Advertisement His absence is the latest step that the Trump administration has taken to distance itself from Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russia’s full-scale invasion. Meanwhile, Russian President Putin said that he did not think Ukraine wanted peace after accusing it a deadly bomb attack that killed seven and injured 115 more just before talks in Turkiye.

Advertisement Putin told Trump in a telephone conversation that Moscow would have to respond to this attack.