Zelensky made the comments ahead of his departure for talks in the United States with President Donald Trump on a plan to halt the Russian invasion.
The Russians “do not want to end the war and seek to use every opportunity to cause Ukraine even greater suffering and increase their pressure on others around the world,” Zelensky said after the Russian barrage pummelled the capital killing at least one person.
Russia pummelled Ukraine’s capital with drones and missiles on Saturday, killing one woman and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands.
Ahead of the Ukraine president’s talks in Florida with Trump on Sunday, Russia announced Kyiv and its EU backers were trying to “torpedo” a US-brokered plan to stop the fighting.
On top of the fatality, the barrage of drones and missiles wounded dozens and cut power and heating to hundreds of thousands of Kyiv region residents in freezing temperatures, Ukraine authorities confirmed.
Zelensky said some 500 drones and 40 missiles pounded the capital and its surrounding region. He questioned Russia’s intentions to end the war.
“Russian representatives engage in lengthy talks, but in reality, Kinzhals and ‘shaheds’ speak for them,” he continued, referring to the Kinzhal ballistic missiles and the Shahed drones used in Russia’s daily strikes.
“They do not want to end the war and seek to use every opportunity to cause Ukraine even greater suffering and increase their pressure on others around the world,” he added.
