Russia continued launching attacks against Ukraine on Friday despite President Donald Trump's claims that the country is ready for peace. The latest barrage targeted the country's energy and gas infrastructure, with Energy Minister Herman Galuschenko describing it as "massive missile and drone shelling."
"Russia is trying to hurt ordinary Ukrainians by shelling energy and gas production facilities, without abandoning its goal of leaving us without power and heating, and causing the greatest harm to ordinary citizens," Galuschenko added.
Moreover, four people were founded in a strike on "civilian infrastructure," said Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov. "A fire broke out at the scene of the impact. A nearby apartment building was also damaged," he added.
The attacks follow another on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown, Kryvyi Rig, which killed four civilians. "Just before the attack, volunteers from a humanitarian organization -- citizens of Ukraine, the United States and the United Kingdom -- had checked into the hotel. They survived," Zelensky wrote on social media on Thursday.
President Trump's claims about Russia being ready for peace were put in question by a former army colonel and intelligence official, who wrote in an op-ed published on the Kyiv Post that his recent decisions have been "based more on emotion than a deliberate decision-making process."
Concretely, Jonathan Sweet highlighted that Russia has not shown willingness to make any concessions to stop the war. He added that until Washington puts the same pressure on Moscow is putting on Kyiv the war won't end. Instead, it echoed the course of action suggested by Gen. David Petraeus: "Put Ukraine in a position of strength relative to Russia... enable Ukraine so much that they are able to change the dynamics on the battlefield so that Putin cannot achieve additional gains at acceptable cost."
Trump threatened new sanctions and tariffs on Russia on Friday, seemingly putting some pressure on the Kremlin to agree to a ceasefire. It is the first public threat against Russia, Axios reported.
The outlet also quoted a senior White House official saying that "Trump's rage has been intensifying" lately due to Russia's behavior and escalatory attacks.
Trump's pressure on Ukraine, which included the halting of military aid and intelligence sharing, led Zelensky to agree to the idea of a ceasefire and the signing of a rare earth minerals with the U.S.
Senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials will meet next week in Saudi Arabia to discuss a potential ceasefire and a framework for a peace agreement.
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