KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian drone and missile attacks in and around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, killed at least three people in the early hours of Saturday, local officials said. The attacks came just before a second round of peace negotiations was set to begin, as a renewed U.S.-led push to end the war gathers steam this week.
Writing on its official Telegram channel, the Kyiv City Military Administration said two people were killed in the strikes on the capital itself.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 29 people were wounded, noting that falling debris from intercepted Russian drones hit residential buildings. He also said the western part of Kyiv had lost power.
Another combined missile and drone attack on the broader Kyiv region, which surrounds the capital, left one woman dead and eight people wounded, according to the regional police.
The latest assault on Kyiv came as Ukrainian peace negotiators are due to meet their U.S. counterparts this weekend, according to an official in Ukraine’s presidential administration who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks.
A U.S. delegation is then expected to travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the second half of next week.
U.S. President Donald Trump last week released a plan for ending the nearly four-year war. The 28-point proposal heavily favored Russia, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to quickly engage with American negotiators. European leaders, fearing for their own future in the face of Russian aggression, scrambled to steer the negotiations toward accommodating their concerns.
Trump said Tuesday that his plan to end the war had been “fine-tuned” and that he’s sending envoy Steve Witkoff to Russia to meet with Putin and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to meet with Ukrainian officials. He suggested he could eventually meet with Putin and Zelenskyy, but not until further progress has been made in negotiations.
Zelenskyy announced Friday the resignation of his powerful chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, who was also the country’s lead negotiator in talks with the U.S, after anti-corruption investigators searched Yermak’s residence.
The unprecedented search at the heart of Ukraine’s government was a blow to the Ukrainian leader, risking the disruption of his negotiating strategy at a time when Kyiv is under intense U.S. pressure to sign a peace deal.
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