Kyiv: Russia and Ukraine swapped accusations of deadly drone strikes on civilian areas of their countries Monday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy anticipated “a very intense
week” of diplomacy at the UN General Assembly in New York, where the Security Council was expected to discuss the more than three-year war.
Zelenskyy has tried to give momentum to a US-led peace effort, offering a ceasefire and a summit
meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow has taken issue with some of the proposals, however, and an end to the bloodshed appears no closer.
Additionally, international concerns have mounted recently that the fighting could spread beyond Ukraine’s borders as European countries rebuked Russia for what they said were provocations.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said on social media that Russia was testing NATO’s political and military response and aiming to reduce Western support for
Ukraine by compelling countries to redirect resources toward the defence of alliance countries.