Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky seeks to push Putin ‘to peace’ as Kyiv marks Independence Day – UK Times

Ukraine has revealed its plans to move ahead with a new cruise missile that would have the ability to strike deep into Russian territory.

The Flamingo FP-5 missile can carry a warhead weighing more than one tonne, and can fly more than 3,000 kilometres.

Manufactured by Ukraine’s Fire Point defence company, the missile is reportedly faster than any the country currently use and took just nine months to develop.

US vice president JD Vance has insisted Donald Trump will be the one to bring an end to war in Ukraine as he praised his “energetic diplomacy”.

In remarks made on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, Vance told Kristen Welker both sides had shown openness to accepting “significant concessions” in recent days.

He added Trump would be willing to pile the pressure onto one side if necessary.

Earlier this week, the US president said he would “see whose fault it is” before taking further action towards peace talks.

Veteran Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, said that he had undergone the first physical of his life and was found to be in good health.

Questions have periodically been raised about Lukashenko’s health in the past few years

“Recently, for the first time in my life, I underwent a complete physical over two days,” Lukashenko, 70, told journalists on Belarusian television in comments posted on his Pul Pervogo Telegram channel.

“Goodness knows what they didn’t do to me. They even got into my brain. They x-rayed every bit of me… Touch wood, I am happy. Everything is normal.”

Doubts about his health intensified during a visit to Moscow in 2023 on the anniversary of the 1945 Soviet victory over Nazi Germany during which he missed events, appeared unsteady and failed to make an address.

Lukashenko said even intelligence services from nations friendly to Belarus had inquired about his health.

“I am saying that I am ok with that,” he said. “Hand over the test results, those examinations and let them be published.”

In power since 1994, Lukashenko allowed Putin to use his country’s territory to launch the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but has said he will play no direct role in the conflict.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin praised US President Donald Trump as the “light at the end of the tunnel” after decades of strained relations between the two countries.

His remarks came after the two met in Alaska in a high-stakes summit that failed to see any significant progress made towards peace in Ukraine.

Ukrainians living in the UK have said they are scared the war will “never end” after peace talks between the US and Russia ended uneventfully.

Monika Popadiuk, who moved to the UK from Kyiv in July 2022, said she was “afraid of losing everything a second time” if the conflict is not brought to an end.

Russia’s air defence units destroyed two drones flying towards Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of the Russian capital said this morning.

“Emergency services are working at the site where the debris fell,” Sobyanin said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

Speaking in Kyiv on Ukraine’s Independence Day, Zelensky said the end of the war would mean a “guarantee of peace” for Ukraine.

“We are all working to ensure that the end of this war would mean the guarantee of peace for Ukraine, so that neither war nor the threat of war are left for our children to inherit,” Zelensky told a crowd of dignitaries in Kyiv’s Sophia Square.

Zelensky has previously said he wants future security guarantees as part of a potential peace deal to be as close as possible to NATO’s Article 5, which considers an attack on one member state as an attack against all.

Support has poured in for Ukraine and President Zelensky on Ukraine’s Independence Day.

Posting on X, Zelensky shared dozens of letters and posts from foreign leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, and Mark Carney.

The US has reportedly been blocking Ukraine from using long-range missiles in Russia, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Both US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems (Atacms) and British-produced Storm Shadows depend on US targeting data.

A new review process brought in by Washington in late spring has blocked Ukraine from using Atacms at least one, the report claimed.

In response, Zelensky said Kyiv had recently been using its own weapons and not consulting with Washington over strikes.