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US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have held “encouraging” talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv in their first official visit to Ukraine but made no breakthrough towards ending the war with Russia. The envoys’ trip followed talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday which a Kremlin aide said were “highly useful” while also giving no indication of a breakthrough. Zelenskyy said at a news conference that his talks with the envoys on Sunday covered air defence needs – including Patriot systems – and a “winter package” of support covering both air defence and energy infrastructure before the colder months. He said Kyiv was seeking “serious volumes” of American support on that front, with backing from European partners as well. It appeared the war would continue into winter, he also said.
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Zelenskyy said Russia had intensified strikes on Ukrainian cities before Russia’s State Duma election later this month, calling the attacks deliberate “terror” against civilians. Ukraine was working with 67 domestic companies developing systems to shoot down Russia’s jet-powered drones at scale. He said the sides agreed to hold a follow-up meeting involving Ukraine, the US and Europe, with a location still to be set.
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The US envoys brought new and “more effective” proposals to Ukraine on ending the war with Russia, according to one senior Ukrainian presidential official. “It’s not the same as it was before. This one now is more effective,” the unnamed offical told Agence France-Presse after the talks with Zelenskyy. “They’re still talking. This is actually the most important part. There are three of them now.” Ukraine’s rail operator announced the envoys’ departure from Kyiv early on Monday.
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Witkoff said earlier that both sides would need to compromise, adding: “We think we have the ingredients to get to that place … and we look forward to continuing this as long as it takes.” Kushner said: “Hopefully this trip has come out with some new ways to advance forward. I think we’ve learned a lot from the trip.”
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In Moscow the US envoys had “discussed substantive plans which will be announced in the coming weeks”, a White House official said. The Kremlin said the Americans had “put forward a number of ideas on possible routes to a settlement”, without elaborating. Witkoff said he was hopeful a new round of US-mediated Ukraine-Russia talks would be announced “in short order”. Putin has repeatedly said Moscow intends to seize the rest of eastern Ukraine while Zelenskyy insists Russia should not be rewarded for its aggression.
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A girl was killed and three other people were wounded in a Ukraine drone attack on the Russia-held Black Sea port city of Sevastopol late on Sunday, the city’s Moscow-appointed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said on Telegram.
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Russian forces struck a Ukrainian cargo vessel in the Black Sea which was carrying military equipment supplied to the Ukrainian army by western countries, Russian news agencies reported the defence ministry as saying on Sunday.
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Kyiv’s forces struck the Ryazan oil refinery – about 480km (300 miles) inside Russia – causing a fire, Ukraine said on Sunday.
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Russia’s foreign minister said Germany’s accusation that Moscow was involved in a drone incident near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Germany’s Leipzig airport were, “by and large, the start of a real war”, state news agency Tass reported. “He is, in effect, declaring war on us,” Sergei Lavrov said of the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz. Berlin has ordered a series of measures in response to the attack attempt.
