The Ukrainian drone attack that destroyed 40 aircraft inside Russia on Sunday may have escalated the conflict, but Ukrainian Parliament member Kira Rudik told Newsmax on Monday her country is just trying to survive until the next round of peace talks with Moscow.
Appearing on Newsmax's "Newsline," Rudik said the war with Russia "was always a David versus Goliath situation since the beginning."
"We have tried to do the best from our side to defend ourselves," she said. "We want to survive. And now, when there will be less planes on Russia's side, there would be less attacks on Ukrainian peaceful cities. That was the most important, and that is what we are trying to achieve.
"By this time, we have done everything by the book, right? [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy has agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. We have voted in the Parliament for rare minerals deal that President [Donald] Trump really wanted, and we have agreed to the talks that we really didn't believe will lead somewhere."
The Russian and Ukrainian delegations reportedly ended their most recent round of direct peace talks in Istanbul on Monday, just over an hour after the negotiations began, with the two sides exchanging documents through Turkish facilitators and preparing to carry out a new prisoner swap. They also agreed to exchange 6,000 bodies of soldiers killed in action, according to reports.
She also said Kyiv feels it's time for Washington to cudgel Moscow into making some concessions in an effort to end the war, which began when Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.
"So now, we think is a time for President Trump to put the pressure on Russia to achieve some result, because it's great that we are having the interchange of the prisoners of war, but what we really need is for Russia to agree to a ceasefire," Rudik said.
"This is obviously not what they are doing. They keep attacking us and we are simply defending ourselves, increasing our chances to survive to the next round of negotiations, if there will be one."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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