Three days of it talks between Ukrainian and American officials in Miami, Florida produced no clear breakthrough by the end of Saturday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had joined his negotiators for a “very substantive and constructive” call with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. “Ukraine is determined to continue to cooperate fairly with the American side to establish real peace,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram, adding that the sides agreed on next steps and a format for talks.
Zelenskyy will next turn to European allies when he visits London on Monday personal meeting with leaders Keir Starmer of Great Britain, Emmanuel Macron of France and Friedrich Merz of Germany. Macron said the group would “take stock” of the peace negotiations. The four leaders took part in a virtual meeting of the “coalition of the willing” about two weeks ago, where they discussed plans to deploy a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
Russia launched more than 700 drones and missiles at Ukraine On Friday evening they targeted critical infrastructure such as power stations and railways, causing heating and water outages for thousands of households. “The main targets of these attacks were again energy facilities,” Zelenskyy said. “Russia’s goal is to inflict suffering on millions of Ukrainians.”
Macron, the French president, denounced what he called Russia’s “escalation path.” and added: “We will continue these efforts together with the Americans to provide Ukraine with security guarantees, without which robust and lasting peace will not be possible. We must continue to put pressure on Russia to force the country to choose peace.”
The protective shield over the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine, which was hit by a drone in February, may no longer perform its main function: blocking radiationThis was announced by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In February, a drone strike blew a hole in the ‘new safe confinement’ painstakingly built at a cost of 1.5 billion euros next to the destroyed reactor and then lifted into place on railswith work completed in 2019 through a European-led initiative. The IAEA said an inspection last week of the steel containment structure found the drone impact had damaged the structure.
Hungary’s right-wing, Putin-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced that this is the case sending a business delegation to Russia in preparation for the end of the war in Ukraine – claiming he was in talks with both Washington and Moscow and could not “share every detail”. “If God helps us and the war ends without us being dragged into it, and if the US president succeeds in reintegrating Russia into the global economy and sanctions are dismantled, we will find ourselves in a different economic landscape.”
According to media in Hungary, oil and gas company MOL is considering a takeover refineries and gas stations in Europe owned by the Russian groups Lukoil and Gazpromboth of which are subject to US sanctions. Under Orbán’s leadership, Hungary has remained dependent on Russian oil and gas, ignoring decisions by the European Union, whose other countries have diversified their imports away from Russia since the February 2022 invasion.
Bulgaria has denounced the case towing a crippled tanker, the Kairos, into the waters just over a week after the ship was hit by a drone strike claimed by Ukraine. A Turkish ship towed it there and returned to Turkey, said Rumen Nikolov, director general of Bulgaria’s maritime rescue and relief operations. “This is not normal,” Rumen said, adding that an explanation was being sought “through diplomatic channels.” Ten crew members on board had requested evacuation, but the weather was too bad at the moment, the Bulgarian Transport Ministry said.
The Kairos and another Gambian-flagged tanker, the Virat, were attacked in the Black Sea off the Turkish coast on November 28. Both are under Western sanctions for belonging to the ‘shadow fleet’ that continues to illegally and unsafely export Russian oil. They were on their way to the Russian port city of Novorossiysk. Ukraine confirmed at the time that it had targeted ships “secretly transporting Russian oil.”
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