Ukraine negotiators to hold talks in US on plan to end war

KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian negotiators are due to hold talks in the United States on Sunday on Washington’s plan to end the war with Russia, with Kyiv facing pressure on both the military and political fronts.

As Russia advances on the front line, its forces targeted Ukraine’s capital and the region for two nights in a row ahead of the talks in the United States.

A drone attack in the outskirts of Kyiv killed one person and wounded 11 on Saturday night, the regional governor said.

Hours earlier, a Ukrainian security source said Kyiv was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers in the Black Sea that it believed were covertly transporting sanctioned Russian oil.

The US talks come amid turbulence for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government — a blockbuster corruption probe forced him to sack his chief of staff and top negotiator Andriy Yermak on Friday.

The Ukraine team — now led by Rustem Umerov — is due to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff in Florida on Sunday, a US official said.

Washington has put forward a plan to end the more than three-year conflict that it is seeking to finalise with Moscow and Kyiv’s approval.

An initial 28-point proposal — drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies — would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.

The United States pared back the original draft following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but the current contents remain unclear.

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron hosts Zelensky for talks in Paris, the French presidency announced.

Drone attacks

Russia has kept up its night-time attacks on its neighbour.

Mykola Kalashnyk, the Kyiv regional governor, reported in the early hours of Sunday “another enemy drone attack”.

“Unfortunately, as a result of the enemy attack on Vyshgorod, one person was killed and 11 were wounded. Among them is one child,” Kalashnyk wrote on Telegram.

The latest attack followed a Russian drone and missile attack on Friday night that killed three people and left hundreds of thousands across Ukraine without power.

Russia, which denies targeting civilians, says it struck energy infrastructure powering Ukraine’s military-industrial complex.

Ukraine says Russia’s attacks are a cynical ploy to wear down its civilian population.