Ukraine war briefing: Trump expected to snub Zelenskyy as Biden backs Kyiv

An official on Trump’s campaign said the Republican nominee will not meet this week with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy while he is in the US. No meeting has been scheduled between the two, the official told the Associated Press, despite a statement from Ukrainian officials last week that said Zelenskyy had planned to see the former president.

Donald Trump said the US needs to “get out” of the war in Ukraine and that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had no plan to do so. “Biden and Kamala got us into this war in Ukraine, and now they can’t get us out,” Trump said in a speech in Georgia. The US does not have troops in Ukraine but has given military and humanitarian assistance. Speaking in Savannah, Trump raised two historical conflicts to suggest Moscow would not lose. “What happens if they win? That’s what they do, is they fight wars. As somebody told me the other day, they beat Hitler, they beat Napoleon. That’s what they do. They fight. And it’s not pleasant.”

Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine had failed as he urged the UN to keep supporting Kyiv until victory. “Putin’s war has failed at its core aim. He set out to destroy Ukraine, but Ukraine is still free,” Biden said in his last address as president to the UN general assembly. He said the war had led to a strategic reordering that strengthened Nato and brought two new countries, Finland and Sweden, into the security pact. “We cannot grow weary,” he said, as Zelenskyy looked on. “We cannot look away. We will not let up on our support for Ukraine. Not until Ukraine wins a just and durable peace.”

The US will send Ukraine an undisclosed number of medium-range cluster bombs and an array of rockets, artillery and armoured vehicles in a military aid package totalling about $375m, US officials said on Tuesday. The expected announcement comes as global leaders meet at the UN general assembly. The latest package of weapons, provided through presidential drawdown authority, is one of the largest approved recently and will take stocks from Pentagon shelves to deliver the weapons more quickly to Ukraine. Including this latest package, the US has provided more than $56.2bn in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded.

It comes as nearly $6bn in funding for aid to Ukraine could expire at the end of the month unless Congress acts to extend the Pentagon’s authority to send weapons from its stockpile to Kyiv. The US “will find a way” before the end of Biden’s term in January to make use of the remaining aid, a senior state department official said on Tuesday. “I think it’s very unlikely that President Biden will finish his term with appropriated funds unused for the purpose Congress allocated them,” said the official.

In a forceful speech to the UN security council, Zelenskyy called on a broad alliance of nations to “force Russia into peace”, saying that Vladimir Putin has violated the foundations of the United Nations and that the war “can’t be conquered by talks” alone. Zelenskyy accused Moscow of committing “international crimes” by targeting Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure, and claimed he had proof that Putin is plotting to target three Ukrainian nuclear power plants to further degrade the country’s energy grid.

Zelenskyy said his “victory plan” is not about negotiating with Russia, but finding a way of ending the conflict diplomatically. The head of the presidential office Andriy Yermak confirmed that an invitation to join Nato is part of Ukraine’s so-called “victory plan”, details of which have not been revealed yet by Zelenskyy, who is due to present it to Biden this week.

Zelenskyy will speak at the UN general assembly on Wednesday, and is due to meet US presidential candidate Kamala Harris, as well as Joe Biden during his trip to the US this week.

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva advocated for a plan for talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the conflict, a proposal already rejected by Ukraine’s president. Zelenskyy has rejected the proposal as “destructive” and insisted his summit initiative is the only viable peace format. The Chinese-Brazilian proposal, which was made public in May, calls for de-escalating the situation and the resumption of direct dialogue without requiring Russia to pull back.

Russian strikes on a residential quarter of Ukraine’s north-eastern city of Kharkiv killed three civilians and wounded more than 30 on Tuesday afternoon, Ukrainian officials said. Kharkiv lies around 30km from the Russian border and has been pounded by Russian aerial attacks throughout the two-and-a-half-year war. “The targets of the Russian bombs were an apartment building, a bakery, a stadium. In other words, the everyday life of ordinary people,” Zelenskyy said on social media.

Russian lawmakers approved new measures to facilitate the army’s ability to recruit suspected criminals for its war in Ukraine. Moscow has used prisoners extensively throughout its two and a half year campaign. Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, on Tuesday backed a new bill that would allow defendants that are currently on trial to sign up for the army.