(MENAFN- Live Mint) Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin over his plans to strike "strike somewhere in Kyiv" using a new missile Oreshnik. In his speech on December 19, Zelenskyy labelled Putin a "scumbag".
Zelenskyy's statement came after the Russian president encouraged a "missile duel" between Russia and the US . According to Sky News, Putin suggested the two superpowers use Kyiv as a target to see which country's missiles can bypass US air defences.
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was addressing a media conference during an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday (December 19, 2024). Several videos of his speech went viral.
In one video, Zelenskyy could be heard saying,“Today, the comrade from the Kremlin [Putin] said that Russia offers a technological duel...He said, 'We will strike somewhere in Kyiv with Oreshnik [new missile]. And let them install air defence and let's see what happens.' Do you think that's a sane person? Simply scumbags.”
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Another video clip showed Zelenskyy saying that Putin“loves to kill” and that he is“crazy”. "I think he's crazy...really, I think he also thinks that he's crazy...He loves to kill," the Ukrainian president said.
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Earlier, Putin touted what he said was the invincibility of the "Oreshnik" hypersonic missile that Russia has already test-fired at a Ukrainian military factory. He said he was ready to organise another launch at Ukraine and see if Western air defence systems could shoot it down.
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"Let them determine some target for destruction, say in Kyiv , concentrate all their air defence and missile defence forces there, and we will strike there with Oreshnik and see what happens," Al Jazeera quoted Putin. "We are ready for such an experiment, but is the other side ready?" he said.
According to Reuters, Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he was ready to compromise over Ukraine in possible talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on ending the war and had no conditions for starting talks with the Ukrainian authorities.
(With inputs from agencies)
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