Ukraine war briefing: Poland calls for ‘double’ support to Kyiv after Russian train attack
Polish minister denounces ‘escalation’ after strike near border with UK’s Boris Johnson and ex-CIA chief David Petraeus nearby. What we know on day 1,664Poland and Ukraine have denounced Russian strikes close to the Polish border as an “escalation” in the war after a train was targeted while former British prime minister Boris Johnson and ex-CIA director David Petraeus were at a border station nearby. The escalation should lead to allies to “double” their support for Ukraine, Poland’s foreign minister said in Kyiv. “This was just a few hundred metres from the Polish border, this affects the safety of my countrymen,” Radoslaw Sikorski said. Polish prime minister Donald Tusk chaired an emergency meeting in Warsaw after the strikes, warning he expected Russia to escalate the war “in the coming weeks”. He added: “We cannot exclude that the escalation will also affect our territory … I hope not.”Poland and Ukraine said the Kyiv-Warsaw passenger train was struck just 2km from the Polish border, reporting no casualties. Shortly beforehand a diplomatic train was at Yagodyn station including Johnson and former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt as well as security advisers from several EU member states, while former CIA director David Petraeus was aboard another train at the station when the attack occurred, the Ukrzaliznytsia rail operator said. It did not say how far the officials were from the train struck.Zelenskyy said Moscow had “deliberately” struck the locomotive. “It is precisely to prevent these strikes from spreading further into Europe that Ukrainian men and women fight every day, give their lives, and do not allow the aggression to expand,” the Ukrainian president said. Ukrainian Railways said Johnson and Petraeus may have been the target, report Amy Hawkins and Charlotte Higgins. Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said the attack was “Putin’s terror knocking directly on the doors of the EU and Nato”.Donald Trump has called on Zelenskyy to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure used to produce and distribute diesel, saying the attacks were causing a global shortage. “Mr Zelenskyy has to do one thing – he has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump told reporters in Ireland after diesel prices in the US hit a record high on Friday. “We spoke to Mr Zelenskyy about it. There are plenty of other targets. Don’t hit diesel fuel, because that’s hurting the world.” Kyiv says Russia’s oil industry funds and fuels Moscow’s war on Ukraine.Trump sought to tie Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries to rising oil prices, saying it was these attacks and not America’s ongoing conflict with Iran that were responsible for price rises. “This isn’t done by the Middle East, this is done by what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine,” the US president said. According to a report published on Friday by the International Energy Agency, net exports of diesel and oil from the Gulf countries in August stood at “just over a quarter” of what they were before the war on Iran began in February. “Disruptions to Russia’s refining system and a near-halt to product exports following intensified Ukrainian attacks have compounded these losses,” the agency wrote.The Kremlin said negotiations with Ukraine and the US on the war could take place in October. “We do not rule out such a possibility – we are talking about the foreseeable future,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, cited by Russia’s Ria and Tass news agencies. Zelenskyy said separately he would be willing to meet Putin at the G20 summit in Miami in December, but Peskov said that was “impossible”, repeating Moscow’s demand that a meeting could only take place in the Russian capital. Putin has repeatedly rejected offers for face-to-face talks with the Ukrainian president.Zelenskyy has imposed sanctions on a former press secretary, accusing her and nine others of spreading Russian propaganda and of supporting Russia’s aggressive policy towards Ukraine. Yuliia Mendel, who worked with Zelenskyy from 2019 to 2021, before Russia’s invasion – responded with a message on Facebook saying it was unconstitutional to impose sanctions on Ukrainian citizens. She did not comment on the specific accusations. Continue reading...
Train carrying Boris Johnson and ex-CIA chief may have been targeted in Russian strike, officials say
Ukrainian Railways says former British PM and David Petraeus crossed into Poland shortly before drone attack near borderA train carrying Boris Johnson and the former CIA chief David Petraeus may have been the target of a Russian drone strike that hit a train engine near the Poland-Ukraine border, according to Ukrainian Railways.Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, described the attack as “Putin’s terror knocking directly on the doors of the EU and Nato”. Continue reading...
