Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky hits back after Trump blames him for holding up peace talks

Volodymyr Zelensky has slammed the Kyiv city administration for how it has dealt with the crisis caused by Russian strikes in peak winter weeks as he declared a state of emergency.

“Unfortunately, Kyiv has done much less — very little has been done in the capital,” Zelensky said in his regular evening address after a special meeting on energy situation. “And even these days, I don’t see any urgency. We need to urgently rectify this now.”

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko took to Telegram to respond to Zelensky.

“What ‘intensity’ in the work in Kyiv in an emergency situation does the president not see, in particular, in recent days, as he said?” the top official said, adding that “utility workers are working around-the-clock in the bitter cold to repair critical infrastructure.”

“Such statements, first and foremost, negate the selfless work of thousands of people, specialists,” Klitschko said, calling Zelensky’s criticism “nothing but hate”.

“At least I am speaking honestly and warning people about the extremely difficult situation. And I don’t care about any ratings or illusory elections,” the mayor said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine is not an obstacle to peace, pushing back against comments made a day earlier by US president Donald Trump.

“We also talked about diplomatic work with America. Ukraine has never been and will never be an obstacle to peace,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address, referring to a telephone conversation with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.

In his comments, Zelensky said Russia’s continued attacks on Ukrainian energy sites and other targets demonstrated that Moscow did not want peace.

“It is precisely Russian missiles, Russian ‘Shaheds,’ (drones) and Russia’s attempt to destroy Ukraine that are clear evidence that Russia is not interested in agreements at all,” he said.

At least 27 Russian soldiers were killed for each Ukrainian soldier lost in the battle to regain the key city of Kupiansk, a recent intelligence assessment provided to the British military showed.

The kill ratio of 1:27 was given to British officials in a briefing with Ukrainian officials last week. The briefing was to share Kyiv’s ability to win back territory despite Moscow’s “meat grinder” tactics on the battlefield with sheer force of numbers.

As many as 200 Russian soldiers were surrounded by advancing Ukrainians in the battle for the northern city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv before Christmas, a defence source told The Times.

Ukraine last month regained the city and said it controlled nearly 90 per cent of the strategic northeastern town of Kupiansk.

The UK has announced a new emergency energy support of £20m for Ukraine after president Volodymyr Zelensky declared a state of emergency in the wake of relentless Russian attacks on the country’s power infrastructure.

The new emergency funding will be used to repair, restore and protect Ukraine’s power grid this winter, officials said this morning.

“Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, including children and schools have been left without heat and power as temperatures across Ukraine plummet to -20c,” the FCDO said in the announcement today.

It added: “The new support announced today will help respond to urgent needs to keep heat and power available for millions of families, children and the elderly after President Zelensky announced a state of emergency in Ukraine following prolonged attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector.”

Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said ‌on Thursday she was sceptical ‌about ​the prospects ​of Ukraine and ‍Russia reaching ‍a ​ceasefire agreement, adding ‍that Russia would not ‍accept foreign ⁠troops on a peace mission there.

“(Russian president Vladimir) Putin does not seem to want peace,” Robles ‌told an ​event in Madrid.

International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva met with top Ukrainian officials in frosty, snow-covered Kyiv on Thursday and inspected energy infrastructure damaged in Russian strikes as Ukraine nears the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion on February 24.

Central bank chief Andriy Pyshnyi greeted Georgieva in front of St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in a square in central Kyiv, where burnt-out Russian tanks are on display. Together, they placed flowers at a memorial wall bearing portraits of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers killed while fighting Russia.

The IMF managing director met with Pyshnyi, prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko and finance minister Serhii Marchenko after her arrival, followed by an afternoon meeting with president Volodymyr Zelensky later in the day, an IMF official said. She was also due to meet with business executives during the one-day visit.