At least two people were killed when Russian forces launched a drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital as Ukrainian and American officials attempted to rewrite a strategy put forth by Washington to put an end to the conflict.
The overnight attack on Kyiv damaged residential structures in the Pecherskyi and Dniprovskyi districts, according to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service in a statement on Tuesday.
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According to the service, “Due to a night attack in Kyiv, two people were killed, six were hurt, and 18 people were saved, including three children,” according to the report.
A 14-year-old child was seriously injured in a second attack on Brovarsky, Bila Tserkva, and the districts of Vyshgorod, it added.
Russia did not respond right away.
The attack came after US and Ukrainian representatives held talks in Geneva, Switzerland, to thrash out Washington’s so-called “28-point plan,” which Kyiv and its allies in Europe, saw as a Kremlin wish list.
In his late-night speech on Monday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the talks in Geneva “can make the list of necessary steps to end the war become realizable.”
But he claimed that he would talk with US President Donald Trump about “sensitive issues” that he would still have to deal with.
There are fewer points now than there are after Geneva, and many of the necessary factors have been taken into account. We must finish the document with dignity, he said, and there is still work to be done by everyone of us. It is very difficult to do so.
Millions of Ukrainians rely on and deserve a dignified peace, he added, adding that “Ukraine will never be an obstacle to peace. This is our principle, a shared principle.”
No scheduled Trump-Zelenskyy meeting.
Trump also made hints about fresh developments.
Is it actually possible that Russia and Ukraine’s peace talks are progressing significantly? The US president wrote earlier on Monday on his Truth Social platform, “Don’t believe it until you see it, but something good may be happening.”
There are still some issues to be resolved, but White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “we’re confident that we’ll be able to work through those.”
She claimed that Trump wanted a deal with Zelenskyy as soon as possible, but neither the US president nor Zelenskyy are currently scheduled to meet.
Trump, who pledged to end the war this year and refocused US policy from steadfast support for Kyiv to accepting some of Russia’s justifications for its 2022 invasion, has done so since taking office.
US policy toward the conflict has not been consistent.
Trump’s hastily scheduled summit with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, in August sparked concerns that Washington was ready to accept numerous Russian demands, which in turn led to increased US pressure on Russia.
Many in the US government, Kyiv, and Europe were caught off guard by the most recent, 28-point peace proposal, which also sparked new concerns that the Trump administration might be hesitant to pressure Ukraine into signing a deal with a strong Moscow-to-paz agreement.
The proposed agreement would require Kyiv to cede more territory, accept restrictions on its military, and forbid it from ever joining NATO, demands Kyiv has long resisted as a means of surrender.
Additionally, it wouldn’t help to fend off any further Russian aggression in Europe.
A counterproposal from Ukraine’s European allies was put together, which included a US security guarantee similar to that of NATO, according to the Reuters news agency, would end fighting at the moment’s front lines, leaving territory-related issues for the future.
The draft that was being worked on in Geneva has not yet been released.
Kremlin criticizes EU proposal
One unresolved issue, according to a Zelenskyy adviser who was present at the talks in Geneva, is that the decision-making process can only be made at the head of state level.
Oleksandr Bevz added that any agreement involving Ukraine must be based on security guarantees, which the US showed “great openness and understanding.”
He stated that the leaders of Ukraine and the US would meet after the US leaders would continue to work on the plan. The plan would then be presented to Russia.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed surprise at the “interim result” of the Geneva discussions, stating that the US proposal has now been “significantly modified” without providing specifics.
Merz added that Moscow must now take an active role in the process.
He stated in Angola while speaking at a summit between African and European Union nations that “Russia must come to the table.” It takes a long time to complete. This week, it will advance at most in smaller steps. This week’s breakthrough does not seem to be coming, in my opinion.
The revised peace plan has not yet been seen by the Kremlin.
Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that while there is no schedule for a meeting between the US and Russia this week, they are still “open for such contacts.”
The Kremlin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, claimed that many of the provisions in the plan Moscow received before the Geneva talks “seem quite acceptable.” However, he said that European proposals were “completely unconstructive” and “floating around.”
Following the Geneva discussions, countries that support Kyiv are scheduled to hold a video call on Tuesday.
Turkiye added that it hopes to establish diplomatic relations with Ukraine.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, claimed that he had a phone conversation with Putin and that Ankara would support any diplomatic efforts to facilitate direct contact between Russia and Ukraine.
Source: Aljazeera
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