Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky has met with Anthony Albanese as Russian drones strike
Volodymyr Zelensky has met with Anthony Albanese as Russia launched a “record” drone barrage on Kyiv, after talks with Moscow which did not yield a ceasefire. Follow updates.
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Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese has taken to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to announce that “Australia stands with Ukraine, now and always.”
Mr Albanese shared a photo of him shaking hands with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Mr Zelensky thanked Mr Albanese for the federal government’s support of his nation and also for sending M1A1 Abrams tanks to the war-torn country as it continues to fight against Russia.
“Together we can really move the situation closer to peace with pressure on Russia and we are very thankful for sanctions,” he said during the meeting on Sunday afternoon (Monday AEST).
ÐвÑÑ‚Ñ€Ð°Ð»Ñ–Ñ Ð¿Ñ–Ð´Ñ‚Ñ€Ð¸Ð¼ÑƒÑ” Україну – зараз Ñ– завжди.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 18, 2025
Слава Україні!
__
Australia stands with Ukraine, now and always.
Slava Ukraini!@ZelenskyyUa
🇦🇺🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/krIsh0418k
The meeting in Rome, where Mr Zelensky thanked the Vatican for “for its willingness to become a platform for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia,” comes as Russia launched a record number of drones at the country overnight, targeting various regions, including that of the capital Kyiv, where a woman was killed. Another man was killed in the southeastern Kherson region.
The attacks came only two days after the first direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years, which failed to produce a truce.
Mr Putin said in an interview released on Sunday that his focus was on eradicating what he called the root causes of the Ukraine conflict and guaranteeing Russia’s security.
The Ukrainian air force said that Russia had launched “273 Shahed attack drones and various types of imitator drones”, of which 88 were destroyed and 128 more went astray “without negative consequences”.
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TRUMP REVEALS PUTIN CALL TO STOP ‘BLOODBATH’
US President Donald Trump has revealed he will be speaking by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the “bloodbath” in Ukraine.
Mr Trump’s announcement comes just days after the Russian leader declined to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for peace talks in Turkey.
Mr Trump posted about the upcoming call on his Truth Social platform.
“I WILL BE SPEAKING, BY TELEPHONE, TO PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN OF RUSSIA ON MONDAY, AT 10:00 A.M. THE SUBJECTS OF THE CALL WILL BE, STOPPING THE ‘BLOODBATH’ THAT IS KILLING, ON AVERAGE, MORE THAN 5000 RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS A WEEK,” Mr Trump wrote.
The US President also said he is going to discuss trade with Mr Putin and will later reach out to Mr Zelensky as well as NATO leaders.
“HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY, A CEASEFIRE WILL TAKE PLACE, AND THIS VERY VIOLENT WAR, A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, WILL END,” Mr Trump said. “GOD BLESS US ALL!!!”
‘P****D AWAY DOLLARS’: TRUMP’S SHOT AT ZELENSKY
Earlier, Mr Trump accuse Mr Zelensky of having “pissed away” billions of dollars in US aid for the war-torn country.
Mr Trump, in an interview with Fox News’ “Special Report” host Bret Baier, insisted that Kyiv’s management of US-provided funds bothered him more than the amount of money Washington has doled out to Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
“The money is the money,” the president said. “What bothered me — I hated to see the way it was, you know, excuse me, pissed away.”
Mr Trump vented his frustrations with Mr Zelensky’s handling of US aid in response to a question from Baier on whether he’s considering additional sanctions against Mr Putin.
“I hated to see that checks were sent for $60 billion every time Mr Zelensky [travelled to Washington],” he fumed.
“I think he’s the greatest salesman in the world. Far better than me,” Mr Trump said of the Ukrainian President.
“Where is all this money going?” he added.
Mr Trump continued to voice his displeasure with Kyiv even after Baier interjected, “But I’m focused on Putin.”
“We send checks. We don’t always send equipment. We send — just checks. We send — just cash,” the President claimed. “Where is it?”
When Mr Trump started to argue that European nations should’ve contributed more than the US to the war effort, Baier once again tried to redirect him to his Putin question.
“Wait,” Mr Trump responded, before arguing that the US has been “treated worse” than Europe by Ukraine.
“We inherited this mess, but I think it’s going to get solved.”
KREMLIN WANTS POW EXCHANGE BEFORE TALKS
It comes as the Kremlin on Saturday said that Ukraine and Russia must first complete an agreed prisoner-of-war exchange and come up with ceasefire conditions, before planning any new talks.
‘“For now, we need to do what the delegations agreed on yesterday” in Turkey — the first direct talks in over three years — the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists following a question on whether there were plans for a second round of talks.
‘“This, of course, means first and foremost to complete a 1,000 for 1,000 (POW) swap.”
RUSSIAN DRONE ATTACK KILLS 9 IN MINIBUS
Nine people were killed in a Russian drone attack on a minibus carrying civilians in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region on Saturday, the local military administration said.
“Unfortunately, as a result of a cynical attack by Russians on a bus with civilians, there are dead,” the administration said in a Telegram post.
“Unfortunately, the death toll has risen to nine,” they added later, alongside a photo of a mangled blue minibus that had apparently been torn apart by the blast.
Four people were wounded in the attack, the administration said. In the earlier post, the authorities had said that eight people were killed. The bus, which was attacked near the city of Bilopillya while travelling towards Sumy, was “targeted by the Russians”, the military administration said.
Part of this story originally appeared in The New York Post.
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Originally published as Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky has met with Anthony Albanese as Russian drones strike
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