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Ukraine war: Zelenskyy warns airlines over flights above Russia as Putin threatens response
🇩🇪 Germany /Conflict & Security

Ukraine war: Zelenskyy warns airlines over flights above Russia as Putin threatens response

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Ongoing story
  • Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned airlines that Russian airspace could become unsafe because Ukraine plans to use large numbers of drones against distant targets.
  • Vladimir Putin condemned the attacks as “state terrorism” and said Russia would not negotiate with what he called terrorists, while leaving the door open to U.S. envoys.
  • Zelenskyy said the United States and another country had requested temporary pauses in attacks on Moscow, St. Petersburg and Vladivostok.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned airlines that Russia’s airspace could become effectively closed as Ukrainian drones reach targets deep inside the country. “The Russian airspace will become completely unsafe,” he said in an evening video address released in Kyiv.

The Russian airspace will become completely unsafe.

— Volodymyr ZelenskyyZelenskyy warned airlines about the risk posed by large numbers of Ukrainian drones over Russia.

Ukraine, he said, was not threatening civilian aviation or individual aircraft. The danger would come from the sheer number of drones operating in Russian airspace. “There will simply be so many drones in Russian airspace that this must be taken into account,” Zelenskyy said. He described the airspace as becoming “effectively” closed.

Vladimir Putin responded overnight at a news conference in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. He called Ukraine’s attacks “state terrorism” and said Russia would react. Referring to statements from Kyiv about resuming talks, Putin said, “They are asking us to resume negotiations.” But he added: “They are asking for personal meetings. But negotiations are not held with terrorists.”

There will simply be so many drones in Russian airspace that this must be taken into account.

— Volodymyr ZelenskyyHe said Ukraine was not targeting civilian aircraft but warned that drone activity would make the airspace unsafe.

Putin said negotiations mediated by the United States were on hold, although he said envoys sent by U.S. President Donald Trump would be welcome in Moscow. Asked why Russia had not used military force to eliminate Ukraine’s leadership, he said representatives would still be needed for possible future negotiations.

They are asking us to resume negotiations.

— Vladimir PutinPutin referred to statements from Kyiv about restarting talks.

Zelenskyy had threatened the previous week to deploy up to 1,000 long-range drones a day. He also confirmed reports that the United States had asked for a pause in attacks on Moscow and St. Petersburg on the previous Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Moscow without prior announcement during that period. Zelenskyy said another country had requested a pause for attacks on Vladivostok, where an international economic forum is scheduled to run from Tuesday to Friday and Putin is due to appear. No Ukrainian attacks have so far been reported in the Russian Far East, more than 6,000 kilometers from Ukraine.

But negotiations are not held with terrorists.

— Vladimir PutinPutin rejected direct negotiations with Ukraine while describing its attacks as state terrorism.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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