Kellogg turned into unusually sharp tone against Russia for the Trump government. “As a former military commander, I understand anything about target planning and this is wrong,” wrote the Ukraine-Sonder envoy in the online service X. “Numerous civilians were killed and wounded”.
The Sumy city center attacked two days after a meeting of the US specialist Steve Witkoff with Putin. So far, nothing has been known about the results of the talks.
After the attack on Sumy, Scholz spoke of a “barbaric attack” and added in a explanation: “Such Russian attacks show how the alleged Russian willingness to peace is. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) said Putin underlines “with blood that he does not want peace but only annihilation”.
French President Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s head of government Giorgia Meloni and EU Council President António Costa were similar. In view of the attack on Sumy, Macron said it was clear that “Russia alone” decided to continue the war. Meloni spoke of a “cowardly Russian attack” on Sumy and underlined that this had occurred on the Palm Sunday, which was important for Christians. Costa wrote on X of a “criminal attack”, which “once again” prove that the war continues because “Russia wants this”.
According to Ukrainian information, the Russian army had shot at the Sumy, which was located near the border, with two ballistic rockets. According to the city’s rescue workers, at least 34 people were killed in the attack and another 117 were injured, including 15 children.
Russia attacked the city center when many people were on the street, the rescue workers said. People in cars, buses and houses were hit and killed. As a reporter from the AFP news agency reported, covered corpses were in the middle of a crossroads.
Sumy has been increasingly under Russian for a few weeks after Russian armed forces had strongly pushed the Ukrainian military back from the neighboring Russian region of Kursk. The city, which is about 50 kilometers behind the border, had previously been spared violent Russian attacks.
The Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj wrote about the attack in online networks: “Evilant rockets have met an ordinary street, prevailed in normal life. He added:” And in a day when people go to church: on Palm Sunday. (..) Only seed guys can do something like that. “
Selenskyj called up the EU and the USA for a “strong answer”. “Without really great pressure, without real support for Ukraine, Russia will continue to wage this war,” he said. There have been two months since Putin “ignored America’s proposal for a complete and unconditional ceasefire”.
U.S. President Trump had initially gone significantly to Russia after the beginning of his second term-and had brought talks with Ukrainian and Russian representatives in Saudi Arabia that took place in February and March. Before visiting Witkoff in Moscow, however, he had asked the Kremlin to accommodate more. Kremlin boss Putin had previously rejected a proposal for unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine.
In the meantime, Great Britain and France have been trying to solve peace in Ukraine for a possible ceasefire agreement for weeks. They launched a “coalition of the willing”, which, among other things, considers NATO to send a multinational mission to Ukraine.
In this context, the US Ukraine-Sondered Kellogg proposed in an interview with the British “Times” to establish in parts of Ukraine zones “similar to in Berlin after the Second World War” that would be controlled by British or French troops.
He later specified that it should not be about a “division of Ukraine” – but about areas of responsibility of the foreign armies, which should defend Ukrainian sovereignty after a possible peace. The US Army will not participate in these “resilience troops”.
