As US brokers discuss new Ukraine-Russia talks, Zelensyy says the attack shows Putin is “ignoring peace efforts”

Kyiv – Negotiators from Russia and Ukraine clashed Tuesday in the third round of US-led peace talks, but there was little hope of any imminent success with an agreement to end Europe’s deadliest war in 80 years.

Negotiators sat down in Geneva last week Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine it was about to enter its fifth year.

Expectations for the Swiss negotiations were low because Kyiv and Moscow are still very far apart on two important issues: Russia’s need to be given ownership of the internationally recognized territory in eastern Ukraine, and what measures are being put in place by Kyiv’s Western allies. – most importantly the US – to ensure its security going forward once the ceasefire has been implemented.

Russia currently controls about 20 percent of Ukraine’s land, but in nearly four years of heavy fighting, those territorial gains are thought to have cost Russia more than a million people.

Despite those huge costs, Putin has them she refused to budge from his request that much of eastern Ukraine be legally ceded to Russia as part of any peace deal.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been steadfast refused such a sacrifice to end the war. He posted on social media as recently as Monday that it would be “a huge mistake to let an abuser take something.”

He is supported on that point by many European leaders and the head of NATObut the Trump administration at times he has pushed Ukraine to accept certain territorial concessions in order to achieve a peace agreement.

Ukraine, which was first attacked by Russia in 2014, eight years before Putin ordered an all-out invasion on February 24, 2022, wants its allies in Washington and Europe to commit to preventing any further Russian attacks. – as this current one shows no signs of stopping despite the negotiations that took place in Geneva.

Ukraine’s air force said on Tuesday that Russia launched 396 drones and 29 missiles overnight. It said 25 missiles and 367 drones were intercepted, but Zelenskyy pointed to the latest attack as further evidence that Moscow “disdains peace efforts.”

“The power of oppression of the Russian Federation – sanctions pressure and strong, immediate support for the Ukrainian army and our air defense, “will be needed to support diplomacy, he said in a social media post.

The war started by Putin nearly four years ago has forced millions of Ukrainians from their homes and killed around 15,000 people, according to the United Nations.

This winter, the weather in Ukraine has been very harsh, with temperatures below zero, and part of Russia’s strategy has been to hit Ukraine’s electricity grid, leaving the villagers with interruptions in the supply of electricity and heat in cold conditions.