KYIV, Ukraine — Russia unleashed a colossal wave of assaults on Ukraine in a single day into Tuesday, filling Ukraine’s skies with drones and missiles two days earlier than Christmas whereas dismissing optimism from American officers that peace talks hosted in the US had been yielding progress.
The Kremlin fired 635 drones and 38 missiles, Ukrainian officers stated, triggering air raid sirens, nationwide blackouts and prompting neighboring Poland to scramble fighter jets. Not less than 4 folks had been killed, together with one little one, with dozens extra injured, regional officers stated.
The bombardment got here hours earlier than Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Russia could launch “large strikes on Christmas,” warning his nation was struggling a “scarcity of air protection programs.”
Zelenskyy stated Monday that talks between American, Ukrainian and European officers in Miami over the weekend had been “fairly strong and dignified.” He conceded that “not all the pieces is ideal thus far,” however {that a} “plan is in place,” together with the “safety ensures” that he and his European allies say is crucial in any deal to cease Russian President Vladimir Putin from attacking once more.
President Donald Trump informed reporters Monday at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Seaside that the discussions had been “going OK” and that “we’re speaking.”
Nevertheless, Russian officers, who over the weekend held their very own talks with the U.S. staff within the Sunshine State, continued to downplay any sense of progress and Moscow nonetheless exhibits little signal of yielding from the maximalist struggle calls for that Ukraine give up territory, cut back its military and by no means be a part of NATO.
Requested if there had been a breakthrough, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated Monday, “No, in fact not. It’s a piece in progress.”
In a separate interview with the Izvestia newspaper, Peskov stated the principle goal of the “meticulous” and “knowledgeable stage” talks was to get a way of what the opposite aspect had been discussing and to see whether or not that was acceptable to the Kremlin.
Representing Russia in Florida was Putin’s envoy and the CEO of the Russian Direct Funding Fund, Kirill Dmitriev. The Kremlin anticipated him to “convey again some indicators that the Individuals obtained from the Europeans and the Ukrainians,” Putin’s international coverage aide Yuri Ushakov stated Sunday. “We’ll focus on all of this right here, and see what will be accepted and what completely can’t be.”
Whereas the diplomats jetted again from the States, Russia was getting ready its largest missile and drone assault launched at Ukraine since October.
