More attacks from Russia - as the Presidents of the US and Ukraine prepare to hold talks in Florida.
Russia has bombarded Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine with strikes by missiles and hundreds of drones - knocking out power and heat in parts of the capital.
Kyiv based Foreign Policy and Security Expert, Jimmy Rushton, [told Andrew Dickens that this is a continuing pattern of attacks.
He says Russia's goal is to force Ukrainians to pressure their Government to surrender.
He says despite having no power in the height of winter, Ukrainian people are strong and won't give in.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
Peace in Europe it appears more distant than ever after
a ten hour Russian drone and missile assault on Ukraine's
capital Kiev over the weekend. Two people killed, thirty two injured.
They struck energy infrastructure, left about forty percent of the
city without heat in the middle of winter. President Vladimir
Zelensky says Putin doesn't want peace, But Vladimir Zelensky right
(00:39):
now is preparing to meet Donald Trump today in Florida,
mar Lago to push ceasefire talks forward. He's got a
twenty point plan. I'm joined now by Kiev based foreign
policy and security expert Jimmy Rushed and Jimmy good morning,
Welcome to the.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Program, Good morning, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
What did the Russian attacks show an escalation in Russian
aggression or is this positioning before the diplomacy.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
To be honest, this is a continuing partner attucks that
there isn't really that much new in these drone strikes.
They've been attacking Ukraine's energy infrastructure since October twenty twenty two.
And it's really a continuing campaign. I think it attempts
to force the Ukrainian people to put pressure on the
(01:24):
government to come to terms. But to be honest with you,
the Ukrainian people a little bit hardier than that, And
regardless of how cold it might get in Kiev and
how many power outages that we have, you know, they're
not going to surrender to Russia because they're cold and
they don't have any power.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
What do these energy taggers tell us about Russians goals
in Ukraine? I mean, when you destroy energy, you also
destroy energy for any area where you might actually get
a purchase, if you know what I mean. But this
shows that they really are going for a defeat.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Well absolutely. I mean, if you look at Russia's way
of waging war, every town that they've taken, apart from
a few at the very beginning of the false version,
have been completely leveled. None of the territory that Russia
has taken will be economically productive within Putin's lifespan. It's devastated,
it's heavily mined, it's got bombs and unexpended ordinance all
(02:22):
over it. So this is really the Russian way of war.
If they can't have it, then they'll destroy it. And
you know, Russian towns that that you know, that they've occupied,
now that they now claim to be part of Russia.
Are these devastated ghost towns with nobody living them?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Are we seeing the peace talks falling apart before our eyes?
Speaker 3 (02:43):
I think it's a little bit too early to say that,
But I'm not particularly optimistic. I think Putin is doing
a good job of playing Trump along. He's you know,
effectively kicking the can down the road. Russian really isn't
interested in peace because at the moment, Putin still thinks
he can gain more on the battlefield than he can
in the negotiating room, So he's really I think he's
(03:03):
manipulating Trump. Trump seems to think that Putin is ready
for you know, an eager to sign a piece deal,
but there's absolutely no evidence of that at all.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
And today, as Zelensky meets Donald Trump at made Lago
to discuss the new twenty point piece plan and agreed
by American and Ukrainian envoys, is Zelensky playing this right?
And will Donald Trump be accepting of his twenty point
piece plan?
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Well, it seems that this twenty point plan was hashed
out between Steve wi Koffjara Krishna and the Ukrainian delegation.
So there are a few things that haven't been entirely agreed.
The fate of the remaining territory in Dnetskoblast, which is
currently under Ukrainian control, still hasn't been finalized, and Ukraine
(03:50):
will not withdraw from that because obviously that would sentence
a lot of Ukrainian's Russian occupation and it's also some
of the most defensible land in the east, so the
Ukrainians aren't going to withdraw from that. There's also the
question of Zappalisha Yukla Pa Pant, which is the biggest
part partner nuclear PAP part in Ukraine, which is currently
on the Russian occupation. So there are there are still
(04:14):
some issues to be worked out, and then obviously Russia
has to agree to this as well. And again there
doesn't seem to be any indication that the Russians are
willing to agree to any form of peace steel which
isn't Ukraine's complete capitulation.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Well, that's depressing, and I thank you so much for
your time today. That's Jimmy Rushton, who is a key
based foreign policy and security expert who's currently visiting family
in the UK right now for Christmas, but them is
heading back.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
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