Ukraine has a flurry of calls with allies after Moscow chaos

KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his defence minister said they held a series of calls with allies on Sunday to discuss the “weakness” of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and the military’s upcoming counter-offensive steps.

The phone calls took place after

an extraordinary failed mutiny

by the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that raised questions about Mr Putin’s grip on power as Ukraine presses a counter-offensive in its south and east.

“We discussed the course of hostilities and the processes taking place in Russia. The world must put pressure on Russia until international order is restored,” Mr Zelensky said, after a phone call with United States President Joe Biden.

According to the White House readout, the two leaders “discussed Ukraine’s ongoing counter-offensive, and President Biden reaffirmed unwavering US support.”

Mr Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s Defence Minister, said he and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed Ukraine’s counter-offensive and next steps to strengthen the forces. “Things are moving in the right direction,” Mr Reznikov wrote on Twitter.

While Ukraine’s officials

said the Russia chaos works to Kyiv’s advantage,

it remains to be seen whether Mr Zelensky and his army can capitalise on the Moscow disorder to reclaim territories now occupied by Russia.

Mr Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern military command, said on Sunday that Kyiv’s army

advanced 600m to 1,000m over the previous day near Bakhmut,

a city taken by Wagner forces in May after months of fighting.

But the gains have been incremental so far, with Mr Zelensky saying recently the counter-offensive has been “slower than desired”.

On Sunday, Mr Zelensky said he and Mr Biden had discussed expanding defence cooperation with an emphasis on long-range weapons, coordination ahead of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) summit in Vilnius next month and preparations for a “Global Peace Summit” he has promoted.

“Yesterday’s events exposed the weakness of Putin’s regime,” Mr Zelensky was quoted saying in the statement.

Separately, Mr Zelensky said he had told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a call about the “threatening situation” at Ukraine’s vast, Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Mr Zelensky warned earlier this week that Russia was considering carrying out an act of “terrorism” involving the release of radiation at the plant, an allegation denied by Moscow.

“Ukraine’s partners must demonstrate a principled response, in particular at the Nato Summit in Vilnius,” he said.

The Ukrainian leader made similar comments in a statement announcing a phone call with Polish President Andrzej Duda. REUTERS