Russia and Ukraine traded deadly attacks Saturday, even as U.S.-Ukraine talks aimed at advancing a path toward ending Russia’s invasion moved closer in Miami, according to officials cited by the Associated Press.
In Ukraine, regional head Ivan Fedorov said a Russian drone hit a house in the city of Zaporizhzhia, killing a man and a woman and wounding six people, including two children. Separate reports from local officials said Russian strikes also knocked out power across much of northern Ukraine’s Chernihiv region.
The AP said the fighting extended across the border into Russia’s Belgorod region. Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said Ukrainian shelling there killed two women and wounded another person.
The attacks unfolded as U.S. involvement in diplomacy continued to take center stage ahead of meetings in Miami. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff told followers on X that the talks were “constructive,” adding that the meetings—with Jared Kushner also involved—were part of “ongoing mediation efforts” focused on narrowing remaining issues to move toward a “comprehensive peace agreement.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Thursday that he had sent a delegation to the United States in an effort to move forward suspended U.S.-brokered talks on ending Russia’s invasion. The AP said Zelenskyy’s stated goal for the Miami meeting was to ensure trilateral talks resume and to keep Washington allowing other NATO countries to buy American weapons to send to Ukraine.
The AP reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that a new round of U.S.-mediated negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv will likely take place soon. The report also said Western European officials have repeatedly accused Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in negotiations while pursuing a larger battlefield initiative and seeking to capture more Ukrainian land, noting that Russian forces hold nearly 20% of Ukraine.
The AP said the diplomacy has faced distraction from developments in the Middle East. It reported that the conflict that began Feb. 28 with Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran has diverted international attention from Ukraine’s plight, while Russia has benefited from a temporary U.S. waiver on oil sanctions and Ukraine has remained short of cash, still waiting for a 90-billion-euro ($103 billion) European Union loan that was promised.