Drones used by Russia against Ukraine contain parts manufactured in several European countries, a joint investigation by Belgian and Ukrainian journalists has found. This was reported by media in Belgium, with the clarification that the import of the parts is carried out in violation of EU sanctions, BTA reported.
Most of the drones shot down in Ukraine since the beginning of the year are of the "Geran-2" type (a modified version of the Iranian "Shahid" 136" drones), the publications note. These drones are assembled from 687 components, of which 112 were manufactured by 19 European companies - in Belgium, Switzerland, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Ireland, Spain and Poland, the inspection found.
It is added that the European parts are imported into Russia via China and Hong Kong, thus avoiding the restrictions imposed by the EU on the trade in dual-use parts (civilian and military). According to the inspection, parts manufactured by a Belgian company were imported in over 200 shipments to Russia between 2022 and 2024, having previously passed through China, Hong Kong, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Against this information, Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian people would not allow him to cede Donbas to Russia.
The Ukrainian people would reject a peace agreement that provides for Kiev's forces to withdraw from the eastern Donbas region and hand it over to Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with the American news website "Axios", BTA reports.
The interview was given on Tuesday, as representatives of Kiev, Moscow and Washington were leading another round of talks in Geneva to end the conflict. The Donbas region, 10% of which is still under Ukrainian control, remains a major stumbling block in the talks, Axios noted.
The Ukrainian president said in an interview that US mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner told him that Russia really wants to end the war and that he should coordinate his negotiating team on that basis. Zelensky, however, has clearly demonstrated a more pessimistic attitude, the American media commented. He advised Witkoff and Kushner not to try to force him to present a vision of peace that his people would perceive as "failed".
The Ukrainian leader noted that it was "unfair" that President Donald Trump was publicly calling on Ukraine, not Russia, to make concessions to achieve peace. Zelensky said that while it is easier for Trump to exert pressure on Ukraine than on the much larger Russia, the way to achieve lasting peace is not to "give victory" to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In recent days, Trump has twice said that the responsibility for concessions falls on Zelensky. "I hope this is just his tactic, not a decision," the Ukrainian president said in his interview with "Axios". He thanked Trump for his efforts to achieve peace and added that in his talks with Kushner and Witkoff there was no such public pressure that the American president is exerting.
"We respect each other," Zelensky stressed, adding that he is "not the type of person" who easily breaks under pressure.