Key Highlights
- team including envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, had focused on security guarantees and a post-war recovery plan for Ukraine. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADHe gave no indication whether any agreements had been achieved at the meeting.“We agreed to continue work at the team level during the next phase of consultations in Davos,” Umerov wrote. More from World ‘Dangerous, inexplicable escalation’: US slams Russia over nuclear-capable missile hit on Ukraine Russia expels British diplomat as espionage accusations revive Cold War tensionsThe two sides, in the latest of a series of meetings intended to work out the details of an agreement, had “discussed in depth” the two issues, “focusing on practical mechanisms and carrying out and implementing them,” Umerov said. He said his delegation had reported on Russian strikes last week which badly damaged Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and left hundreds of apartment buildings with no heating or electricity. Kyiv’s team, which also included the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, Kyrylo Budanov, and the head of Zelenskiy’s parliamentary faction, Davyd Arakhamia, is also seeking clarity from Washington on the Russian stance toward the U. S.-backed diplomatic efforts to end the war. Quick ReadsView AllAt least 21 killed as high-speed trains derail in southern Spain near AdamuzUAE's Mohamed bin Zayed visits India amid Iran tension, Trump's new Gaza moveWashington has pushed Ukraine to agree to a peace framework that it will then present to Moscow, while Kyiv and its European allies have sought to guard against any future attack by Russia. Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said it was important to outline the effects of the Russian strikes as they demonstrated that Russia was not interested in diplomacy. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD“If the Russians were seriously interested in ending the war, they would have focused on diplomacy,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. RECOVERING FROM RUSSIAN STRIKESZelenskiy said repair crews made up of nearly 58,000 people remained engaged in restoring the heating network as night-time temperatures dip to minus 16 degrees Celsius (3 degrees Fahrenheit). Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said 30 apartment buildings in the capital Kyiv, particularly hard-hit by last week’s attacks, still had no heating. Zelenskiy said Ukrainian intelligence had determined that Russia was conducting reconnaissance on key sites in preparation for strikes, including targets linked to nuclear power stations. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Saturday that there was evidence Russia was considering attacks on power substations supplying nuclear power stations. Russian officials made no immediate response to a request for comment.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)Follow Firstpost on Google.
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