Volodymyr Zelensky has warned of a new wave of Russian attacks over Christmas.
In his nightly address on Friday following his return from a trip to the US, the Ukraine president said: “With the holiday season fast approaching, the Russian terrorists could again step up their activities,” he said. “They have no regard for Christian values or any values for that matter.”
His comments come as Vladimir Putin referred to Russia’s 10-month-long invasion of Ukraine as “war” for the first time in public, as one of his ambassadors warned of the “high” risk of a clash with the US, with diplomatic relations in an “ice age”.
Having previously only called the invasion a “special military operation,” the president said he wants to end the war in Ukraine “the sooner the better” through an inevitable “diplomatic solution”.
“Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war,” Mr Putin said. “We will strive for an end to this, and the sooner the better, of course.”
