Zelenskyy says 3 Patriot systems secured – DW – 07/25/2025

The Kremlin said that it was “obviously” unlikely the Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy would meet within 30 days, after Kyiv suggested a leaders summit before the end of August.

“A high-level meeting can and must put a definitive end to the settlement … Is it possible to go through such a complex process in 30 days? Well, that is obviously unlikely,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

US President Donald Trump earlier in July gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace deal with Ukraine or face sweeping sanctions, with the deadline coming at the end of August. 

The Starlink systems used by Ukrainian military units were down for two and a half hours overnight, a senior commander said, part of a global issue that disrupted the satellite internet provider.

Starlink experienced one of its biggest international outages when an internal software failure knocked tens of thousands of users offline.

Ukrainian forces heavily rely on SpaceX’s Starlink terminals for battlefield communications and drone operations because they have proven resistant to espionage and signal jamming throughout the war against Russia.

“Starlink is down across the entire front,” Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, wrote on Telegram at 22:41 (21:41 CEST, 19:41 GMT) on Thursday.

He updated his post later to say that by about 01:05 on Friday morning the issue had been resolved. Brovdi said the incident highlighted the risks of relying on these systems and called for more diverse communication and connectivity methods.

“Combat missions were performed without a (video) feed, battlefield reconnaissance was done with strike (drones),” Brovdi wrote.

While Starlink does not operate in Russia, Ukrainian officials say that Moscow’s troops are also widely using the systems on the frontlines in Ukraine.

During their meeting in Istanbul earlier this week, negotiators from Moscow and Kyiv discussed the possibility of a direct meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin .

Ukraine has been pushing for a meeting between the two leaders and has expressed hope that US President Donald Trump could also take part. Trump has been pressing the warring parties to strike a deal.

Putin has said he would only meet Zelenskyy during a “final phase” of negotiations on ending the war.

“We need an end to the war, which probably begins with a meeting of leaders,” Zelenskyy told journalists. “In talks with us, they have begun to discuss it. This is already progress toward some kind of meeting format.” 

At a fresh round of talks in Istanbul on Wednesday, Ukrainian lead negotiator Rustem Umerov proposed to hold the talks before the end of August which would roughly align with a deadline set by US President Trump, who earlier this month gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace deal with Ukraine or face sweeping sanctions.

However, Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky downplayed the likelihood of an imminent meeting.

“The meeting must be properly prepared. Only then will it make sense,” Medinsky was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency TASS.

Talks to end the conflict have so far yielded few results as the two sides have radically different positions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is working to secure funding for 10 Patriot air defence systems, following a deal that allows European states to buy US weaponry and give it to Kyiv.

“The President of the United States will be transferring, selling these systems to us,” Zelenskyy said in comments that were released to journalists on Friday. “Our task is to find funding for all 10 systems.”

He added that Ukraine had already secured funds for three systems — two from Germany and one from Norway, but is seeking funding for seven more.

“I have officially received confirmation from Germany for two systems, and from Norway for one. We are currently working with Dutch partners,” he told reporters.
 

Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has criticized the tens of billions of dollars in aid provided to Kyiv under the Biden administration, and instead has approved the sale of weapons for Ukraine via NATO member states.

Zelenskyy said that Washington and Kyiv had agreed to a deal worth between $10 billion and $30 billion (€8.5 billion to €25.5 billion), under which Ukraine would provide the United States with drones.

“With America and President Trump, we agreed that they will purchase drones from us. This agreement is in place,” Zelenskyy said. 

Welcome to DW’s coverage of the latest developments in the Russian war on Ukraine.

As the weekend approaches, we’ll keep you updated on stories, including Ukraine’s planned purchase of Patriot air defense systems through European countries.

Stay tuned for the latest news and analysis from the ongoing war.