The US House on Thursday passed a Ukraine aid and Russia sanctions package despite opposition from Republican leaders, underscoring growing congressional frustration with President Donald Trump’s handling of the conflict. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a face-to-face meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a rare open letter, saying he was also ready for a ‘full ceasefire’. Follow the day’s events as they unfold on our liveblog.
Putin says Russia will bolster air defences in response to Ukrainian drone attacks
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia will strengthen its air defences to counter recent Ukrainian drone attacks, which have reached deep inside his country and cast a cloud over his showcase economic forum in his hometown of St. Petersburg.
Speaking in response to a question from The Associated Press during a meeting with heads of international news agencies, Putin acknowledged the damage from Ukrainian drone attacks.
“To our regret, some of them break through,” Putin said of the drone strikes. “Russia has an air defence system, we need to improve it, strengthen it, and we will do that.”
Putin also said Russia is open for a compromise on Ukraine in line with understandings reached at his summit with US President Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, adding that Ukraine needs to accept them to make a deal to end the conflict, now in its fifth year.
Putin to address ‘Russian Davos’ in Saint Petersburg, as threat of Ukrainian drones remains
Russia’s Vladimir Putin will address a flagship investment forum in Saint Petersburg on Friday, as the war in Ukraine drags the economy into stagnation and days after brazen Ukrainian drone strikes rocked his home city.
Russia’s offensive has led to rising prices, tax hikes, two-decade-high borrowing costs, business shutdowns and labour shortages, putting the economy in its trickiest spot since the start of the war in 2022.
Meanwhile, intensifying Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s vital energy infrastructure – oil depots, refineries, exporting hubs – are threatening to dent Moscow’s most important income stream.
In a highly symbolic strike, one attack hit a facility in Saint Petersburg as the conference opened on Wednesday, with arriving dignitaries greeted by a plume of back smoke in the background.
US House of Representatives passes bill to aid Ukraine and impose new sanctions on Russia
The US House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that would aid Ukraine and sanction key segments of the Russian economy, overriding objections from Republican leaders who warned the bill would undermine negotiations designed to achieve a comparable but stronger result.
The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., seeks to cement US assistance for Ukraine by providing more than $1 billion in security and reconstruction aid. It would make another $8 billion available for Ukraine’s defense through loans.
The 226-195 vote is a sign of impatience with President Donald Trump’s approach to the war and represents the House’s second major foreign policy break with Trump this week. The day before, the House, for the first time, approved a war powers resolution aimed at halting US military action against Iran .
Volodymyr Zelensky, in open letter to Putin, proposes face-to-face meeting and ‘full ceasefire’
