October 13, 2025 | 02:51 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As Ukraine faces continued air attacks against its energy infrastructure from Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday renewed efforts to increase his country's air defenses in talks with US President Donald Trump.
Zelensky wrote on X that the two leaders also discussed "details related to the energy sector."
Their call followed an earlier conversation on Saturday, Zelensky said, during which the two leaders agreed on Sunday's topics.
Trump undecided on providing Tomahawks to Ukraine
The phone calls followed Zelensky's statement on Friday that he was in discussions with US officials regarding the possible provision of various long-range precision strike weapons, including Tomahawks and additional ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles.
Trump said earlier this week that he has "sort of made a decision" on whether to send Tomahawks to Ukraine.
But the US president also said that before agreeing to provide Tomahawks, he wanted to know how Kyiv would use the weapons because he did not want to escalate the war.
A senior Ukrainian delegation is set to visit the United States in the coming days.
Russian concern over Tomahawks
Moscow also expressed "extreme concern" over Washington potentially providing Tomahawks to aid Ukraine as it continues to try to fend off Moscow's full-scale invasion. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said "the topic of Tomahawks is of extreme concern."
"Now is really a very dramatic moment in terms of the fact that tensions are escalating from all sides," he told Russian state television.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, also said in comments released Sunday that he doubts that Washington will provide Ukraine with the cruise missiles.
"I think we need to calm down in this regard. Our friend Donald... sometimes he takes a more forceful approach, and then, his tactic is to let go a little and step back. Therefore, we shouldn't take this literally, as if it's going to fly tomorrow," Lukashenko posted on his Telegram.
Russia 'continues aerial terror,' says Zelensky
Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine's power grid overnight into Sunday, part of an ongoing campaign to cripple Ukrainian energy infrastructure before winter.
Kyiv regional Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said two employees of Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, were injured in the attack on a substation. Ukraine's Energy Ministry said key infrastructure was also targeted in the regions of Donetsk, Odesa and Chernihiv.
"Russia continues its aerial terror against our cities and communities, intensifying strikes on our energy infrastructure," Zelensky posted on X, noting that Russia had launched "more than 3,100 drones, 92 missiles, and around 1,360 glide bombs" over the past week.
Zelensky called for tighter secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian oil, "Sanctions, tariffs, and joint actions against the buyers of Russian oil — those who finance this war — must all remain on the table."
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