President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held an online meeting with a bipartisan delegation from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
The Head of State briefed them on the brutal Russian attack with “shaheds” in the Kharkiv region, which killed six people, including a mother and her child, who was just over a year old.
“This is how Russia responds to sanctions waivers and reduced pressure,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.
The President also briefed them on the situation on the front, where Ukraine is retaking more territory than the Russians are able to capture, and on the offensive operations of Ukrainian warriors.
“I am grateful to America and to all our partners for their support. We fully understand that our success depends on the support of our partners. And without America, things would be much harder for us,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.
The Head of State noted that Ukraine still faces speed restrictions on Starlink and Starshield services in different parts of the front.
“We still have no explanation for this. Just different strange stories we’re hearing, unfortunately,” the President noted.
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the speed restrictions on Starlink and Starshield undermine frontline logistics, Ukraine’s mid-range strikes, and its ability to defend against “shaheds.”
“The hardest to shoot down are the jet-powered ‘shaheds.’ That’s exactly why we need Starlink and Starshield to work at higher speeds,” the President stressed.
The Head of State noted that Russia’s attacks have become even more vicious and dirty, and that Ukraine received no warning from its partners about the first wave of ballistic missile strikes last night.
“I’m talking first of all about the American early warning of missile threats. This is already the third time in a short period that we’ve had no such warning about ballistic missiles. And we have received no clear explanation from our partners, our strategic partners, from Washington – why this is happening,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.
During the meeting, they separately discussed strengthening Ukraine’s air defense, particularly accelerating the delivery of Patriot interceptor missiles under the PURL program.
The Head of State also briefed them on his contacts with U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy separately thanked them for supporting Lindsey Graham’s sanctions bill.
“This is an extremely strong bill that was supposed to take effect – but unfortunately, it has not. We hope this will change,” the President stressed.
The U.S. congressional representatives assured Ukraine of their support for efforts to bring an end to Russia’s aggressive war.
The Head of State noted that the Russians have no plans to end the war and are preparing new attacks for the winter. According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine supported U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal for an energy ceasefire, but Russia continued attacking our energy infrastructure.
The President emphasized that the Russian leader had rejected the proposal to stop strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure on the condition that Ukraine stop striking Russian oil refineries.
“We also offered another option – and I want to thank the members of the U.S. Congress who raised this idea. We could stop striking Russian oil refineries for 30 days. And in return, we would expect America to help us protect our skies for those same 30 days – just 30 days – specifically with Patriot interceptors. That would be fair. I’m sure. But unfortunately, we have not heard any willingness to help with this option either,” the Head of State noted.
They agreed that their teams would follow up on everything discussed during the meeting.