Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently held significant phone conversations with both U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Russian attacks on energy facilities have turned civilians to victims under a Russian war of aggression. These conversations are meant as a remedy to this sad state of affairs.
On their July call, which has recently been the center of controversy surrounding President Trump, Zelenskyy described their conversation as “very positive and productive.” He was the one who successfully briefed Trump on Russia’s recent escalations. Good to see @ZelenskyyUa call attention to those drone/missile strikes that injured at least 20 people in Kyiv. The strikes indiscriminately injured dozens of civilians and destroyed multiple residential apartment buildings. They caused blackout after blackout across most of Ukraine, crippling energy infrastructure even as Ukraine prepared for winter.
Zelenskyy informed Trump about the Russian strikes, which Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed were aimed at energy facilities that support Ukraine’s military efforts. This context underscores the urgency for international support in strengthening Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, a topic of discussion between Zelenskyy and Trump.
In other news, Zelenskyy’s other call with Prime Minister Carney of Canada discussed the latest Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid. Both leaders reiterated the urgent need for a unified global response to these aggressions. In addition to the above, they discussed the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. This initiative, co-chaired by Canada and Ukraine, seeks to address the sufferings of every child affected by the continuing war.
Those conversations unfolded in the setting of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. There, world leaders came together to address a robust agenda with outsized emphasis on security challenges posed by Ukraine. The urgency for action has never been higher. Just on Friday, Russia carried out its biggest attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure yet, with the resulting blackouts reaching hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and counting.
On a more positive note, power was restored to over 800,000 residents in Kyiv on Saturday following extensive repair efforts. Yet the danger posed by Russian forces, as they grow more desperate and erratic, is an ever-present worry for Ukrainian leadership and their foreign backers.
