U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to ramp up arms shipments to Ukraine is a signal to Kyiv to abandon peace efforts, Russia said on Thursday, vowing it would not accept the "blackmail" of Washington's new sanctions ultimatum.

Moscow launched a massive aerial assault on Ukrainian territory Friday night, July 18, into Saturday, according to a post on X from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Meanwhile, on Saturday, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had sent Moscow a proposal for a new round of peace talks.

The paper notes that as Putin rejects U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace proposals, and Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities continue to kill civilians, hopes for a ceasefire deal or a reset in Moscow’s relations with the West are rapidly fading.

President Trump privately questioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about whether Kyiv could blast Moscow and St Petersburg if needed to make Russians “feel the pain” and come to the

President Trump told reporters that Ukraine should not target Moscow following a report that he advised Ukraine to ramp up its attacks.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy should not target Moscow and that Russian President Vladimir Putin should agree to a ceasefire deal by a 50-day deadline or sanctions will kick in.

Russia's Defence Ministry, in a separate post, said its air defence units had downed 87 Ukrainian drones in different areas across central, western and southern Russia in a period

Russia has launched a massive overnight drone and missile attack on Ukraine, killing at least one person in Odesa.