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Russia claimed Kyiv was trying to evade “constructive negotiations” on a way to end the war ahead of a crucial US-Ukraine summit on Sunday.
Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said in comments published on Sunday that Ukraine was trying to turn around its fortunes on the battlefield instead of preparing for talks with the US on “stable agreements to resolve the initial reasons for the conflict”, Moscow’s byword for demands that all but amount to Kyiv’s capitulation.
Lavrov also accused European countries — which have worked with Ukraine on proposed changes to US President Donald Trump’s peace plan — of trying to block efforts at a settlement.
“After the change of administration in the US, Europe and the European Union have become the main obstacle to peace,” Lavrov said in an interview with state newswire Tass.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet Trump in Miami later on Sunday, where he hopes to lock in the details of a 20-point peace plan developed with the US that is meant to be presented to Russia.
As he prepared for the talks, Zelenskyy remained optimistic about what he called “the most active diplomatic days of the year right now”.
“A lot can be decided before the new year,” he wrote on social media. “We are doing everything toward this, but whether decisions will be made depends on our partners — those who help Ukraine, and those who put pressure on Russia so that Russians feel the consequences of their own aggression.”
This week alone, Russian forces launched more than 2,100 attack drones, about 800 guided aerial bombs and 94 missiles of various types, he added.
Zelenskyy told European leaders by phone on Saturday that he did not expect Russia to drop its maximalist demands or agree to Ukraine’s proposed plan, but wanted the US to shift its focus to pressuring Russia, according to two people briefed on their call.
Ukraine is prepared to withdraw forces from the front line if Russia does the same to create a demilitarised zone, Zelenskyy told the European leaders, but wants reliable security guarantees in exchange that would clearly set out what Kyiv’s allies would do should Moscow break the peace again.
Zelenskyy also wants to ensure stable funding for Kyiv’s armed forces and support for its air defence, including a European military presence in Ukraine, the person said. Ukraine can only agree to ceding occupied territories to Russia in a referendum held under peaceful and secure conditions, Zelenskyy told the European leaders.
Zelenskyy also wants the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the frontline to be placed under international control and the electricity it generates to be shared on either side of the frontline.
Russia’s main target for months has been Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The bombardments have destroyed more than 60 per cent of Ukraine’s power generation capacity. The massive assault on Saturday left more than 1mn homes in and around Kyiv without power, according to Ukraine’s biggest private energy company, DTEK. It said on Sunday that power had been restored to those homes.
Russia has already indicated it will reject any amendments Ukraine proposes to Trump’s initial plan, which was drafted in the autumn with significant input from Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared in military uniform late on Saturday at a command point to tout claims of his forces’ success on the frontline.
In an apparent reference to the talks in Florida, Putin said the west was offering Kyiv “good basic conditions to ensure Ukraine’s security in the long-term historical perspective”, which he said included “restoring relations with Russia and the Ukrainian economy”.
If Ukraine did not accept those conditions, however, Putin said Russia would meet his aims for the war on the battlefield.
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