Ukraine says it's ready to restart talks with Russia but needs clarity on Kremlin's terms
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine is ready to resume direct peace talks with Russia in Istanbul on Monday, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, following days of uncertainty over whether Kyiv would attend a meeting proposed by Moscow.
But Ukrainian officials have insisted that the Kremlin provide a promised memorandum setting out its position on ending the more than three-year war, before the two delegations sit down to negotiate.
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Chicago Tribune
27 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
2 killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine as prospects for talks remain uncertain
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine on Saturday killed at least two people, including a 9-year-old girl, officials said, as uncertainty remains about whether Kyiv diplomats will attend a new round of peace talks proposed by Moscow for early next week in Istanbul. Russian troops launched some 109 drones and five missiles across Ukraine overnight and into Saturday, the Ukrainian air force said. Three of the missiles and 42 drones were destroyed and another 30 drones failed to reach their targets without causing damage, it said. The girl was killed in a strike on the front-line village of Dolynka in the Zaporizhzhia region, and a 16-year-old was injured, Zaporizhzhia's Gov. Ivan Fedorov said. 'One house was destroyed. The shockwave from the blast also damaged several other houses, cars, and outbuildings,' Fedorov wrote on Telegram. A man was killed by Russian shelling in Ukraine's Kherson region, Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on Telegram. Moscow did not comment on either attack. Russia's Ministry of Defense said Saturday that it had gained control of the Ukrainian village of Novopil in the Donetsk region, and took the village of Vodolahy in the northern Sumy region. Ukrainian authorities in Sumy ordered mandatory evacuations in 11 more settlements as Russian forces make steady gains in the area. The new additions bring the total number of settlements under evacuation orders in Sumy, which borders Russia's Kursk region, to 213. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said some 50,000 Russian troops have amassed in the area with the intention of launching an offensive to carve out a buffer zone inside Ukrainian territory. Speaking Saturday, Ukraine's top army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Russian forces were focusing their main offensive efforts on Pokrovsk, Toretsk and Lyman in the Donetsk region, as well as the Sumy border area. Syrskyi also said Ukrainian forces are still holding territory in Russia's Kursk region, a statement that Moscow has repeatedly denied. Russia said on April 26 that it had pushed all Ukrainian troops from the Kursk region after Ukrainian troops seized land there during a surprise incursion in August 2024. 'The enemy is holding its best units here,' Syrskyi said referring to Kursk, 'which it planned to use in the east.' Elsewhere, 14 people were injured including four children after Ukrainian drones struck apartment buildings Saturday in the Russian town of Rylsk and the village of Artakovo in the western Kursk region, local acting Gov. Alexander Khinshtein said. Andrii Yermak, a top adviser to Zelenskyy, said Friday that Kyiv was ready to resume direct peace talks with Russia in Istanbul on Monday but that the Kremlin should first provide a promised memorandum setting out its position on ending the more than three-year war. Zelenskyy said Friday that Russia was 'undermining diplomacy' by withholding the document. 'For some reason, the Russians are concealing this document. This is an absolutely bizarre position. There is no clarity about the format,' Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. Moscow previously said it would share its memorandum during the talks.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Pompeo warns against US recognizing Russian control over Crimea: ‘Mistake of epic proportions'
ODESA, Ukraine — In the range of Russian rockets from Ukraine's occupied Crimean Peninsula, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stood in Odesa and called for President Trump to reject recognizing Russian sovereignty over territory it seized by force. Pompeo, who served as secretary of state during Trump's first term, said if the U.S. recognized Crimea as Russian territory, it 'would be a mistake of epic proportions,' speaking at the Black Sea Security Forum Saturday. 'I get the frustration … I'm not naive about what's physically possible in this moment, but that doesn't mean one should go and say, 'and we are giving up for all time,'' he said. 'This is one of the things I hope to communicate,' Pompeo added. The former secretary's remarks comes as the Trump administration has weighed giving de jure recognition to Russia over territory it occupies in Ukraine as part of efforts to coax Moscow towards a ceasefire and peace deal with Kyiv. There's growing acceptance in Ukraine that it needs to enter into a ceasefire with Russia without liberating its territory, but Kyiv is pushing for its allies to hold back recognizing occupied lands as sovereign Russian territory. Russia occupies about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory since launching a full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. But it has maintained an occupation of the Crimean Peninsula since invading and illegally annexing it in 2014, along with the eastern Ukrainian provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk. In 2018, Pompeo — during Trump's first term — issued the Crimea Declaration 'reaffirming U.S. policy its refusal to recognize the Kremlin's claims of sovereignty over territory seized by force in contravention of international law.' While Trump has disavowed Pompeo as a member of his inner circle, the former secretary and CIA director told The Hill he is articulating to Republican allies on Capitol Hill why maintaining the Crimea Declaration is important and 'the right thing to do.' He mentioned Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a close Trump ally and Ukraine supporter, as one of those allies and said he saw him in Ukraine. Graham was in Kyiv with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) this week. 'There are many in my party, the Republican party, that have disappointed me deeply and have said things that are inconsistent with what I think are the deep American interests that we have here,' Pompeo said during a fireside chat during the conference. 'But I think they all also know, that, in the end, there's no walking away from this for the United States,' he added. Trump has routinely favored Russian President Vladimir Putin and exercised pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in efforts to bring the two sides together. But the U.S. president has also expressed frustration with Putin, calling the Russian leader 'crazy' after the Kremlin launched its largest aerial bombardment against Ukraine between May 24 and 25. In Odesa, Russian strikes against the city on May 23 — launched from Crimea — killed two people and injured seven others. In a post on his social media site Truth Social earlier this week, Trump threatened Putin that he was 'playing with fire' with his ongoing attacks against Ukraine. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Zelenskyy: Kursk operation keeps Russian troops from being active in Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that the Kursk operation is keeping a significant number of Russian troops from being active on Ukrainian territory. Source: Zelenskyy in an evening address Quote: "Today, there was a report from Commander-in-Chief [Oleksandr] Syrskyi. The situation on the front remains difficult. On some fronts, we are seeing increased Russian activity. The most tense fighting is on the Pokrovsk, Lyman and Kupiansk fronts. We are continuing our Kursk operation, which is keeping a significant number of Russian troops from being active on Ukrainian territory. The war must move into Russian territory – back to where it came from." Background: DeepState, a Ukrainian group of military analysts, has reported on the advance of Russian troops in the vicinity of the village of Oleksandriia in Sumy Oblast. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
