(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) From the night of Sunday (October 18) to the early morning of Monday, Russia’s air strikes in Ukraine killed at least three people. In addition, more than 500,000 households were without power. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Kiev for not receiving early warning of ballistic missile attacks from partner countries. "Multiple rounds of Russian ballistic missile attacks occurred again at night, and once again there was no timely warning information from partner countries," Zelensky wrote on Telegram. "If the delivery of missiles for Ukraine's air defense is blocked and sanctions against Russia are relaxed or postponed, it will be a sign that our partners are unwilling to face reality." Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Jurij Ihnat told Ukrainian TV that no early warning information was received before the first wave of attacks, but early warning information was received before the second round of attacks. He said experts would work with partner countries to investigate the matter as it was not an isolated case. On Sunday, Zelensky said Washington had resumed providing such warning information after suspending it for several days. Zelensky told the US NBC TV station: "It blocked (the early warning information) for a period of time. Later, the United States released (the provision of information)." Zelensky said that the Ukrainian army was unable to obtain US intelligence information "for three days when it was attacked by a ballistic missile." U.S. Secretary of State Rubio denied this statement on Monday. During his visit to Uzbekistan, Rubio said there was no pause in the flow of intelligence. Rubio also called on Zelensky to focus on ending the war. On Sunday, Zelensky also held consultations with U.S. envoys Vitkov and Kushner on the delivery of the Patriot air defense system. Ukraine is increasingly unable to defend itself against Russian missiles. Trump praises Russia and criticizes Zelensky Trump defended his Russia policy on his social media Truth Social on Sunday. He said: "I am in the process of mediating the Russia-Ukraine war and do not want to do anything stupid that will drive Russia away from the negotiations." In this post, Trump also said that Russia has provided minimal support to Iran, and the Kremlin could have done much more. Trump also slammed Zelensky, saying that Zelensky did not want to end the war and "probably never wanted" to end the war. Trump said Ukraine received a lot of money from Europeans and his predecessor Joe Biden. Trump once again expressed outrage over Ukraine's attack on a Russian oil refinery. For weeks, Trump has blamed the Ukrainian government for a worldwide diesel shortage. But critics say Trump is simply trying to distract from the consequences of a war with Iran. In the post, the US president also praised Russia for "providing millions of barrels of diesel to the world at low prices." About 10 days ago, Trump unexpectedly announced that Russia would provide hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel to the U.S. and world markets. Zelensky is worried about the shift in U.S. policy. Zelensky is deeply concerned that the United States may move closer to Russia. "If the United States sides with Russia, we will not be able to survive," he told NBC, referring to Trump's recent suspension of new sanctions against Russia and the diesel deal with the Kremlin. Zelensky said it would be a "historic mistake and a huge tragedy" to withdraw U.S. support for Kyiv so far. Zelensky later said in an interview with Bloomberg: "I think the steps that are being taken are to persuade Ukraine to surrender." He said: "I am not saying that this is the clear goal of our partners. I do not want to believe that our American partners believe that the war could end faster - based on Ukraine paying the price. But it seems so." In view of the U.S. mid-term elections, Zelensky told Bloomberg: "In election time, politics is extremely aggressive." He said that he expected relations with Washington to improve after the election. "It's painful now, and life will be normal after the election. I think it will be calmer." The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter, that the Kremlin proposed holding a dialogue with Trump and Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, from November 18 to 19 to discuss the issue of the Ukraine war. The Kiev government criticized the talks, saying such talks would only encourage Putin to continue the war. (Reuters, DPA, AFP)
