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Zelensky: Trump is a ‘game changer’ in Ukraine conflict
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russia is seeking to expand its war beyond his country as he appealed for more military aid to keep fighting Moscow forces.
In a speech at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, Zelensky said Ukraine is “only the first” and that Russian drones are “already flying across Europe”, in an apparent reference to Russia's recent incursions into Polish and Estonian airspaces.
“Russian operations are already spreading across countries, and Putin wants to continue this war by expanding it,” he said.
“No one can feel safe right now.”
It comes after US president Donald Trump claimed Kyiv could win “all of Ukraine back in its original form” in a striking rhetorical shift against Russia.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the Russian army was a “paper tiger” and that Kyiv should act now to win back all of the land captured since the beginning of the invasion in February 2022.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refuted claims that Kyiv would win back its land - something which Trump previously denied was possible. He also rejected Trump’s claim that it was an aimless war.
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Key Points
Zelensky accuses Putin of seeking to expand war beyond Ukraine'Deeply mistaken': Kremlin again lashes out at Trump claimsTrump reverses stance on territory, saying Kyiv can win it backSpanish defence minister's jet suffers GPS disturbance near Russian enclaveTrump says Nato can shoot down Putin’s planes violating airspace
24 minutes ago
In pictures: Zelensky addresses the UN General Assembly
(AFP via Getty Images)
(AP)
(AP)
(AP)
Taz Ali24 September 2025 15:30
47 minutes ago
Zelensky accuses Putin of seeking to expand war beyond Ukraine
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian leader Vladimir Putin of “driving the war forward, wider and deeper”.
“Ukraine is only the first, and now Russian drones are already flying across Europe,” he told the UN General Assembly.
“Russian operations are already spreading across countries, and Putin wants to continue this war by expanding it.
“No one can feel safe right now.”
Taz Ali24 September 2025 15:07
55 minutes ago
Europe 'cannot afford' to lose Moldova to Russian influence, Zelensky warns
Volodymyr Zelensky warned Europe could not afford to lose strategically located Moldova to Russian influence in the same way as Georgia.
"Russia's trying to do to Moldova what Iran once did to Lebanon and the global response again, not enough,” the Ukrainian president told the UN General Assembly.
“We have already lost Georgia in Europe... and for many, many years, Belarus has also been moving towards dependence on Russia.
“Europe cannot afford to lose Moldova too.”
Taz Ali24 September 2025 15:00
57 minutes ago
Zelensky: 'We are living through the most destructive arms race in human history'
The Ukrainian president said the world was living through “the most destructive arms race in human history” as a result of artificial intelligence (AI).
Volodymyr Zelensky told the UN General Assembly that rules were needed to govern how AI is used to control weapons.
Taz Ali24 September 2025 14:57
1 hour ago
Ukraine needs 'friends and weapons', Zelensky says
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said international rules do not work and only “friends and weapons” can save a country at a time of war.
"If a nation wants peace, it still has to work on weapons... weapons decide who survives," he told the UN General Assembly.
Taz Ali24 September 2025 14:52
1 hour ago
Watch: Ukraine braces for new test as Russia steps up drive to seize Donetsk’s fortress belt
Ukraine braces for new test as Russia steps up drive to seize Donetsk’s fortress belt
Alex Croft24 September 2025 14:49
1 hour ago
Zelensky: We do not have big missiles that dictators show off in parades
Zelensky says Ukraine does not have “big fat missiles that dictators like to show off in parades”, in what appears to be a dig at President Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
He adds that while Ukraine does not have a large navy fleet, it has succeeded in repelling Russian attacks in the Black Sea.
Daniel Keane24 September 2025 14:37
1 hour ago
Zelensky begins address to UN General Assembly
Volodymyr Zelensky has begun his address to the UN General Assembly.
He says that Ukraine is at risk from Iranian-made drones, and the world is moving “too slowly” to protect itself.
“It is only a matter of time before drones are fighting drones and targeting critical infrastructure. We are living through the most destructive arms race in human history. Because this time it includes artificial intelligence.”
Daniel Keane24 September 2025 14:35
1 hour ago
Ukrainian strike kills two in Russian port city, say local authorities
A Ukrainian drone strike on the southern Russian port city of Novorossiisk killed two people and wounded six on Wednesday, regional authorities said on Telegram.
The city's top official said a state of emergency had been declared in Novorossiisk, which is Russia's major sea port on the Black Sea and contains major oil and grain export terminals.
The emergency services ministry declared a danger of drone attacks across the whole of the Krasnodar region.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC)'s office in the city was struck in the attack, with two employees injured, CPC said.
However, a CPC spokesperson said the consortium's terminal at Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka, located around the bay from the city of Novorossiisk, was still operating. The terminal loads Caspian CPC Blend crude oil for export to international markets.
Ukraine has been heavily targeting energy and port facilities that support Russia's war economy and generate revenues for its state budget.
Regional authorities in Krasnodar, southern Russia, said there was a threat of attacks on the Black Sea port of Tuapse from Ukrainian naval drones, and instructed residents and guests to leave the coastal strip.A Ukrainian drone strike on the southern Russian port city of Novorossiisk killed two people and wounded six on Wednesday, regional authorities said on Telegram.
Alex Croft24 September 2025 14:29
1 hour ago
Analysis | How Trump’s break-up with Putin helped push his startling shift on Ukraine
Our chief international correspondent Bel Trew on Trump’s latest change in heart:
After months of repeated disappointment in his former buddy-in-chief, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump went as far as to label the Russian leader’s army a “paper tiger”.
So what has changed, and why?
This is a far cry from the public bust-up in the Oval Office back in February, when Trump mocked Zelensky’s military fatigues, berated him for not being thankful enough for US military aid, and shut him down because he had “done a lot of talking”.
In that painful-to-watch meeting, during which the Ukrainian ambassador held her head in her hands as the world looked on in horror, Trump and his vice-president, JD Vance, tried to bully the Ukrainian president into accepting a ceasefire deal that would see Ukraine cede swathes of territory captured by Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion.
“You have to be thankful. You don’t have the cards. You’re running low on soldiers,” Trump warned.
Going back to the policy reversal, of course, Trump leaning into bombastic, controversial statements on his preferred social media platforms, that seemingly blow up everything that came before, is entirely in character.
You can read the full article here.
Alex Croft24 September 2025 14:07
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