A massive Russian attack on Ukraine… and the Kremlin welcomes Trump’s position

The Kremlin on Friday noted the statements of US President-elect Donald Trump, in which he announced his objection to Kiev’s use of US-made missiles against Russian territory, in the wake of a “massive” Russian air attack against Ukraine.
Moscow said that the “huge” attack it launched against Ukraine came in response to Kiev’s launch of American-made ATACMS missiles two days ago at a “military airport” in Taganrog in the southwest of the country.
The outgoing US administration headed by Democrat Joe Biden did not allow the use of such missiles against Russian territory until November, after it had opposed the matter for a long time, despite repeated requests from Kiev.

Possible peace talks

In an article published in Time magazine on Thursday, Trump, who takes office in January, confirmed that he “strongly opposes” this idea. He said that “only intensifies this war and makes it worse.”
Commenting on this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Trump’s latest statement was “fully consistent” with the Russian position.
Moscow and Kiev are seeking to obtain the support of the Republican president in light of possible peace talks that could begin next year, nearly three years after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which left tens of thousands dead on both sides.

Trump called for an “immediate ceasefire” and negotiations to end the war, after meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, last week.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “We do not want a ceasefire, but rather we want peace when our conditions are met and our goals are achieved,” noting that the “pre-negotiations” conditions were not met, as Moscow is practically demanding that Ukraine surrender before negotiating with it the terms for peace.

Massive Russian attack

Moscow, whose forces are advancing in eastern Ukraine, did not ease its pressure. It launched a new massive attack on Ukrainian energy networks on Friday morning, causing a widespread power outage amid temperatures below zero.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said via the Telegram application, “In response to the use of American long-range weapons, Russian army forces carried out a massive attack on vital energy facilities” in Ukraine.

For its part, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia launched 94 ballistic and cruise missiles, in addition to 193 drones.
He added that the air defenses shot down 81 missiles and 80 drones, while 105 other drones disappeared “from radars and did not reach their targets.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, via the
This is the second attack targeting Ukrainian power networks since the beginning of the year, and Friday’s strikes caused “severe damage to thermal power plant equipment.”
In addition to these attacks, Ukraine has been suffering for months from difficulties on the front line, where it has been unable to repel the advance of Russian forces.