Kyiv: Russia launched a wave of attacks on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, overnight, with at least seven people killed in strikes that hit city buildings and energy infrastructure. A Ukrainian attack on southern Russia killed three people and damaged homes, authorities said.
The attacks came during a renewed US push to end the war that has raged for nearly four years, and talks about a US peace plan. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll met with Russian officials for several hours in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, a US official said.
Driscoll, who became part of the US negotiating team less than two weeks ago, is heading up the latest phase of talks involving the terms of a possible peace settlement with Russia.
The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations, declined to give details on how long the negotiations would last or what topics were being discussed, but noted that the Ukrainians were aware of the meeting and all sides have indicated they wanted to reach a deal to halt the fighting as quickly as possible.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday that “the list of necessary steps to end the war can become doable” after progress was made in Sunday’s talks between US and Ukrainian delegates in Geneva. He said he planned to discuss “sensitive” outstanding issues with President Donald Trump.
Rustem Umerov, a senior adviser to Zelenskyy, wrote on social platform X on Tuesday that the Ukrainian leader hoped to finalise a deal with Trump “at the earliest suitable date in November.”
Russian officials have been reserved in their comments on the peace plan.
European leaders have cautioned that the road to peace will be long.