Ukrainian officials to meet Trump envoys for Russia talks
KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian delegation will meet with US President Donald Trump’s envoys within the run-up to one other spherical of trilateral talks with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned Wednesday.
Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, is due to maintain talks with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Thursday in Geneva, Zelenskyy instructed reporters.
A US push for peace has already introduced Russia and Ukraine to the desk in Abu Dhabi and Geneva this yr, however the talks have produced no breakthrough on key variations as Russia’s invasion of its neighbor enters its fifth yr.
Thursday’s assembly will deal with particulars of a attainable postwar restoration plan for Ukraine and talk about preparations for an upcoming trilateral assembly with Moscow officials, Zelenskyy mentioned, including that he has additionally tasked Umerov with discussing a attainable prisoner trade.
Ukraine expects the US-brokered talks with Russia to happen subsequent week, Zelenskyy mentioned.
Witkoff mentioned Tuesday he would meet Umerov in Geneva for talks that might be adopted by a trilateral assembly in Florida.
The Swiss metropolis can be anticipated to host a spherical of nuclear talks on Thursday between the United States and Iran.
Previous talks with Russia and Ukraine have largely resolved the query of safety ensures, Witkoff mentioned. Both sides are partaking with the peace efforts, with nearly each day conversations happening between officials, he mentioned.
Washington shouldn’t be urgent Ukraine to concede on any level, and the Russians have proven “some restraint,” Witkoff instructed the Yalta European Strategy — a world annual leaders’ discussion board organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation in Kyiv.
On Tuesday, amid occasions marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Zelenskyy famous that Russia has not defeated Ukraine nor damaged the Ukrainian spirit, regardless of Moscow’s larger and higher outfitted military and heavy bombardment of civilian areas.
Ukrainian forces have in latest months pushed Russia’s military again at factors alongside the roughly 1,250-kilometer (750-mile) entrance line in jap areas of the nation, in accordance to the Institute for the Study of War.
The “significant gains” are the largest since 2024, the Washington-based suppose tank mentioned, though they’re unlikely to develop into main offensives as Ukraine struggles with a troop scarcity. Even so, they probably will disrupt Russian plans for a spring-summer offensive, it mentioned.
Ukraine has additionally continued its nearly nightly long-range drone barrage of army and allied infrastructure targets deep inside Russia.
The US State Department has expressed its displeasure with Ukraine’s latest assaults on the Russian port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea which have impacted US oil pursuits in Kazakhstan, Kyiv’s chief envoy to Washington mentioned Tuesday.
A Ukrainian drone assault on the Dorogobuzh fertilizer plant in western Russia’s Smolensk area killed seven employees, injured 10 individuals and precipitated a hearth, Gov. Vasily Anokhin mentioned.
Ukrainian authorities mentioned Russia attacked with 115 drones in a single day, together with one strike on a village within the southern Zaporizhzhia district that killed 4 individuals and injured a toddler, the State Emergency Service mentioned.
