By Euronews with AP
Published on
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is on his way to meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump for talks on ending the war in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy left Poland on Saturday with a first stop scheduled in Canada to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
On Sunday, the US and Ukrainian presidents will meet in Florida at Trump’s private residence to discuss a peace plan for Kyiv.
Zelenskyy announced that the talks will focus on security guarantees and territorial issues, adding that the 20-point plan currently under consideration “is about 90% ready.”
The Ukrainian president also wants to bring to the negotiating table how to put additional pressure on Russia, and an “economic agreement” would also be on the table, but noted he could not confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”
Moscow has demanded that Ukraine surrender the remaining territory it controls in the Donbas — an ultimatum Ukraine has rejected. Russia now controls most of Luhansk and around 70% of Donetsk, the two regions that form the Donbas.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” though he expressed doubts over whether that would be feasible at such short notice.
Meanwhile, Russia targeted Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv with a heavy night of strikes, leaving at least person dead, dozens injured, and one third of Kyiv’s residents with no electricity or heating in freezing temperatures.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported 559 incoming air attack assets, among them ballistic and cruise missiles, of which it claimed to have destroyed or suppressed 503.
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday it had conducted a “massive strike” overnight, using “long-range precision-guided weapons from land, air and sea, including Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missiles” and drones. It stated that the strikes were aimed at energy infrastructure facilities used by Ukraine’s forces, as well as military-industrial sites.
According to the ministry, the operation was carried out in response to Ukraine’s attacks on “civilian objects” in Russia.
Earlier on Saturday, the ministry reported that its air defences had shot down seven Ukrainian drones overnight over the Russian regions of Krasnodar and Adygeya.
Video editor • Lucy Davalou