Zelenskyy seeks security assistance at Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, June 1, 2024 ©Vincent Thian/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy has met heads of state to seek security assistance at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

Zelenskyy was also trying to rally support for an international peace summit which takes place later this month in Switzerland.

In a series of posts on X, Zelenskyy said he had met Indonesia's president-elect Prabowo Subianto and the president of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta.

Firefighters put out a fire on an apartment building damaged in a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv, May, 31, 2024Andrii Marienko/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved

"It is very important for us to begin the process of establishing a just peace," Zelenskyy said.

"Russia does not want to end the war. Therefore, we must work together with the entire world to bring peace closer."

Russia has not attended the Shangri-La security summit since it invaded Ukraine in 2022 and its participation in the Switzerland talks remains unclear.

A US official said Zelenskyy and his defence minister, Rustem Umerov, will meet Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday.

They're expected to discuss the battlefield situation in Ukraine.

Also on Sunday, Zelenskyy is scheduled to speak at the security summit's final discussion session on "Re-Imagining Solutions for Global Peace and Regional Stability."

His visit to Singapore comes a day after Russia pummelled Ukraine's energy infrastructure with a large-scale drone and missile attack that injured at least 19 people.

The Ukrainian military reported that it had downed 35 out of the 53 missiles launched at targets across the country overnight on 1 June as well as 46 out of 47 attack drones.

Injuries were reported by officials across the country, including in Ukraine’s western Lviv region and the central Dnipropetrovsk region.

Twelve people, including eight children, were hospitalised after a strike close to two houses where they were sheltering in the Kharkiv region, said Governor Oleh Syniehubov.

The strikes were part of a series of sustained attacks by Russia against Ukraine’s power grid, which has been ongoing since March.

© Euronews