Ukraine continues to seek increased military and political support from the US amid Russian strikes and preparations for winter. Washington emphasizes the need to stop attacks on civilians and return to negotiations, while Kyiv insists on increasing sanctions pressure and supplying Patriot interceptor missiles. In parallel, new diplomatic proposals are being discussed that could become the basis for negotiations to end the war.
Burnham plans to convince Trump to transfer Patriot missiles to Ukraine before winter
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said, that in September, European leaders may visit the US to convince Donald Trump to give Ukraine access to stocks of Patriot interceptor missiles. According to him, the issue of supplying these missiles is one of the key tasks in the coming weeks. Burnham attributes this primarily to the need to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses against Russian ballistic missiles ahead of winter. He noted that after his visit to Kyiv he was left with “a real sense of optimism” about the possibility of resolving the problem of insufficient numbers of interceptors.
“I’m looking forward to going to New York in September,” Burnham said, referring to the UN General Assembly. He added: “As I leave today (from Kyiv – ed.), I have a very clear understanding of what I need to do over the next few weeks.” According to the British prime minister, European leaders are also considering holding a new meeting of the Coalition of the Willing on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, dedicated to obtaining American interceptor missiles from other countries. “It’s not yet confirmed, but it seems that’s what the majority is thinking,” he said. Burnham stressed that the UK is not using Patriot missiles, which Ukraine needs, so other European countries need to “step up on this issue.”
The US called on Russia and Ukraine to stop strikes on civilians and return to negotiations
The US Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dan Negrea called Russia and Ukraine to stop strikes on civilian targets and return to the negotiation process. He made the statement during a meeting of the UN Security Council dedicated to Ukraine’s Independence Day. Negrea stressed that Washington reiterates US President Donald Trump’s call for an immediate ceasefire and good faith negotiations to end the war. According to him, the death toll continues to rise with each new strike.
“We call on both sides to stop any strikes that damage civilian vessels or threaten to damage them. It is senseless to continue shedding the blood of innocent civilians when there is no military solution to this war,” Negrea said.
He also called on Russia and Ukraine to “return to negotiations” and said the United States “will play any constructive role we can to facilitate talks between Moscow and Kyiv to achieve that outcome.” The U.S. envoy to the United Nations separately stressed that Washington remains committed to Ukraine’s future as a sovereign and prosperous state. The statement came amid continued Russian attacks and rising civilian casualties.
Kellogg said it was necessary to balance aid to Ukraine and the Middle East and did not recognize the occupied territories as Russian
Former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg said, that Washington needs to balance the burden on the defense industry and security assistance between Ukraine and the Middle East. According to him, the war in the Middle East is creating an additional burden on American defense resources, but Ukraine also needs support. Kellogg noted that he would like to see the expansion of Ukraine’s defense base with U.S. assistance. He also drew attention to the potential of the Ukrainian engineering and business sector, which, in his opinion, can increase production faster if part of the responsibility is transferred from the American defense industry to Ukraine.
“There is a war going on in the Middle East. We have to balance what we are doing, balance the load. And that is what is being worked on. Now I would like to see the defense base in Ukraine expanded,” he said.
Kellogg also stated: “That is where I would like to move. We, the United States, are expanding our defense base a little slowly. I understand that. And it takes time. So I think that if you transfer some of this responsibility to Ukraine, I think it will be good, because you are so hardworking, and you can do it much faster than we can.”
At the same time, Kellogg said, that the United States does not recognize Crimea and other Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories as part of Russia. “Do we recognize Crimea as Russian territory? No. "The same with Donbass – Luhansk or Donetsk, Kherson or Zaporizhia, they are simply occupied. That's all. We recognize it. Over time, maybe not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, but they will return to Ukraine," he said.
Kellogg explained this position by the American doctrine of non-recognition of territorial conquests.
“In the United States, there is a doctrine called the Veles Doctrine. It means that we do not recognize the conquest of territories that become part of another state. I will give an example, instead of Ukraine. Like with the Baltic countries in World War II, the Soviet Union occupied the Baltics. But we never recognized them as part of the Soviet Union. They still remained a separate occupied country. And we see the same thing with occupied territories. Physically they are occupied, yes. But do we recognize by law that this is now their territory? No,” Kellogg said.
Zelensky called on US senators to increase sanctions pressure on Russia and help Ukraine with Patriot
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky met with US senators Richard Blumenthal and James Lankford during the National Prayer Breakfast in Kyiv. One of the topics of the meeting was the increase in pressure on Russia and the continued support of Ukraine by the US Congress. Zelensky said, that he appreciates the bipartisan and bicameral support for Ukraine in the United States. According to him, work is ongoing in both houses of Congress to increase pressure on Russia, including through sanctions.
“I am grateful to the United States for its consistent bipartisan and bicameral support. We appreciate that work is ongoing in both houses of the US Congress to increase pressure on Russia, and we hope that we will eventually be able to implement Lindsey Graham’s bill on sanctions against Russia and Iran,” the president said.
Separately, Zelensky informed the US senators about the constant Russian ballistic missile strikes. “It is very important that Ukraine has the ability to counter this, and the implementation of the decision to grant licenses for the production of Patriots can help significantly,” he stressed. According to the president, Ukraine also needs interceptor missiles to prepare for winter and protect critical infrastructure.
Zelensky sees opportunity for negotiations to end the war by summer 2027
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, that Ukraine sees an opportunity for American mediation in ending the war by the end of the summer of 2027. According to him, Kyiv, together with representatives of the United States and Europe, prepared a one-page document with proposals, which they plan to present to the Russian side. Among the ideas set out in the document are a ceasefire and the previously proposed US free economic zone in the territory of eastern Donbas, which would be managed by a third party. Zelensky noted that the document also defines the role of the European Union and NATO and the lengths to which Ukraine is ready to go to reach agreements.
“It contains one of the ideas on a ceasefire – this is the main point. The second part concerns what the Americans proposed regarding a free economic zone,” Zelensky told reporters.
According to him, the time window for diplomatic efforts could be the period from the G20 summit in the United States in December this year to the end of the summer of 2027, in particular in view of the approaching presidential campaign in the United States in 2028. At the same time, Moscow has already questioned the possibility of implementing the idea of a free economic zone in Donbas, stating that it considers this territory to be part of Russia and therefore sees no possibility of its administration by a third party. Russia also continues to insist that any settlement must provide for the transfer to it of the entire territory of the four Ukrainian regions that it illegally declared its own.
Photo: HENRY NICHOLLS
Author: Danylo Pievchev