UKRAINE’S president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned drones could be armed with nukes in most destructive arms race ever.
He also warned of violence across the world – highlighting the killings of Charlie Kirk and Iryna Zarutska.
ReutersUkraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)[/caption]
APZelenksy spoke to world leaders about the war ravaging Ukraine[/caption]
AFPZelensky warned of the dangers of drones[/caption]
GettyPresident Zelensky speaks at the UNGA[/caption]
Zelensky also warned that Putin is targeting Moldova – hoping to pull it into Moscow‘s orbit like Belarus and Georgia.
Ukraine‘s hero president warned the gathered leaders that “peace dependson all of us”.
He urged: “Don’t stay silent while Russia keeps dragging this war on.
“Please speak out and condemn it, please join us in defending life and international law and order.
“People are waiting for action.”
Zelensky said Putin won’t stop with Ukraine – highlighting Russian drones now being spotted flying over Europe.
He told the assembley they are facing the “most destructive arms race in human history” – and warned the next step could be automonous drones armed with nuclear weapons.
Zelensky also hailed his renewed relationship with Trump, saying “God saved him from a murder attempt”.
And he brought up the killing of Ukrainian woman Iryna, who was stapped to death in the US, along with the assassination of Trump ally Kirk.
Zelensky was hammering home the importance of strenght through arms and the need to stand up against evil forces.
And he circled back to a common refrain, that Russia will not stop at Ukraine – particularly higlighting the threat to their neighbour Moldova.
He said: “Russia’s trying to do to Moldova what Iran once did to Lebanon and the global response again, not enough.
“We have already lost Georgia in Europe… and for many, many years, Belarus has also been moving toward dependence on Russia. Europe cannot afford to lose Moldova too.”
He was addressing the United Nations in the New York some 24-hours after Trump issued a scorched earth attack on the organisation.
It came after Trump blasted the “failing” United Nations during his fiery speech to the world leaders .
His full throttle, assault of a speech left the assembly members gobsmacked as he warned world leaders ”your countries are going to hell”.
EPAUkrainian rescuers work at the site of shelling in Kharkiv[/caption]
AFPPutin pictured today meeting one of his puppet leaders from occupied Ukraine[/caption]
EPAFire and debris at the site of a Russia attack in Kharkiv[/caption]
The fire-spitting tirade was followed by another shock moment when he met with Zelensky on the sidelines.
He said that he believed Ukraine could win the war – calling Vlad’s army a “paper tiger”.
Trump had gambled on his relationship with Putin to help end the war with Ukraine.
But he has since blasted he has been “let down” by Moscow – and has appeared to soften his stance on Kyiv.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said it had “no choice” but to continue the conflict in Ukraine and said Trump was “mistaken”.
And they insisted Russia is a “real bear” rather than ” paper tiger”.
Trump said that Ukraine could win back “every inch” of its territory from Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov hit back at Trump’s claims that the two nations had been “fighting aimlessly for three and a half years”.
“We are continuing our special military operation to ensure our interests and achieve the goals [set by Putin]”, Peskov said in a radio interview.
“We are doing this for both the present and the future of our country.
“For many generations to come. Therefore we have no alternative.”
In a major pivot from his previous stance on the three-and-a-half-year conflict, Trump also dismissed Russia’s military strength and mocked its inability to beat Ukraine in just a few days.
GettyTrump speaks during a bilateral meeting with Zelensky[/caption]
GettyTrump has hardened his stance on Putin[/caption]
ReutersZelensky is calling for more support from Ukraine[/caption]
Posting on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said Ukraine “may be able to take back their country in its original form and, who knows, maybe even go further than that”.
Trump’s Russian criticism follows months of visible frustration at Putin’s refusal to end the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
Peskov hit back at Trump’s insults, particularly those levelled at the Russian economy.
“The phrase ‘paper tiger’ was used in relation to our economy,” he said.
“Russia is more associated with a bear. And paper bears don’t exist.
“Russia is a real bear.”
Peskov did, however, admit that the Russian economy had faced “tensions”.
“Yes Russia is experiencing tensions and problems in various sectors of the economy,” he said.
The challenges have arisen, slowing the growth of the Russian economy after two years of rapid growth.
On Wednesday, Moscow’s finance ministry proposed raising sales tax from 2026 to help cover the costs of the continuing war.
The offensive has so far pushed the Russian budget into a deficit.
Kyiv and Washington had made efforts to cut off revenues from Moscow’s energy exports, in an attempt to further squeeze the Kremlin.
Peskov said Trump’s return to the White House has yielded “close to zero” results in strengthening the relationship between the two nations.
The biting criticism followed multiple phone calls between Putin and Trump as well as the summit meeting in Alaska in August.
On the other hand, Zelensky has welcomed Trump’s change of position, calling it a “big shift”.
It remains unclear if the US leader will follow through with any concrete steps, including sanctions that Kyiv has strongly lobbied for.
Ukrainians on the ground remain doubtful of the US president.
“It’s just another opinion from Trump, which changes every hour,” Bogdan Tkachuk, said.
Svitlana Fetisova, whose son died at the front, defending Ukraine against Russia, said she would want to see “more help, more action, not just words”.
“Ukraine is suffering,” she said.
“I really want to believe that this is true and that finally the country responsible for the balance of peace in the world will turn to us.”
Secret Service probes Trump’s broken UN escalator
By Gemma Scerri
A MAJOR investigation was underway today into the cause of the broken escalator that enraged Donald Trump at the UN summit.
What started as an apparent joke could now spiral into a full-blown crisis after the machinery stopped working the very moment he stepped on it.
Awkward footage showed him and wife Melania almost losing their balance before having to trudge up the steps before his keynote speech.
At the top of the stairs, Trump was greeted by a woman, and the first thing he said to her was, “Your escalator just broke.”
Now the Secret Service has stepped in, launching a probe after a report in The Sunday Times claimed UN workers had joked about turning the escalator off to “deliberately sabotage” the president.
The US Press Secretary has even called for those responsible to be fired, with a fiery post on X.
Karoline Leavitt said: “If someone at the UN intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and investigated immediately”.
The outraged post was accompanied by screenshot of The Times article, which said “to mark Trump’s arrival, UN staff members have joked that they may turn off the escalators and elevators and simply tell him they ran out of money, so he has to walk up the stairs”.
The incident was one of several glitches that raised suspicions over whether Trump was being sabotaged by UN staff members, following his strong criticism of the institution.
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