By Illia Novikov
Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) – Russian drones beat the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and the slip bombs struck Zaporizhzhia, local authorities announced on Tuesday, while the Kremlin again warned that the negotiators are not likely to obtain a rapid breakthrough in peace talks.
Ukrainian, British, French and American officials must meet in London on Wednesday to discuss the war. Anticipation is to develop to find out whether diplomatic efforts can stop more than three years of fighting since the large -scale invasion by Russia of its neighbor. Hostility has been deep since Russia invaded and illegally annexed the Crimea peninsula in Ukraine in 2014.
President Donald Trump said last week that the negotiations “came to the head” and insisted that none of the games “plays” in his push to end the war. This came after the Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that the United States could soon retreat negotiations if it does not progress.
Rubio suggested that Wednesday’s meeting could be decisive to determine if the Trump administration continues its involvement.
But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned that “the problem of settlement is so complex that it would be bad to put him close limits and try to set a short time for a settlement, a viable regulation – it would be a ungrateful task.”
Putin’s foreign adviser Yuri Ushakov said Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff was to visit Moscow this week. Ushakov has provided no other details.
Western analysts say Moscow is not in a hurry to conclude peace talks because it has a momentum of the battlefield and want to capture more Ukrainian land.
Russia has actually rejected an American proposal for an immediate and complete 30 -day stop in the fighting by imposing large -scale conditions.
Latest attacks
Odesa has undergone a “massive attack” by Russian drones overnight, injuring at least three people, wrote the head of the regional administration, Oleh Kiper, on his telegram page.
A residential building in a densely populated urban area, civil infrastructure and an educational establishment have been affected, he said.
Later Tuesday, Russia struck the city in southern Zaporizhzhia with two massive aerial sliding bombs – a modernized Soviet weapon which, for months, used for east waste.
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A man checks his neighbor’s corpse near a several storey building damaged by a Russian strike in a residential area in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Tuesday April 22, 2025. (AP Photo / Kateryna Klochko)
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A man checks his neighbor’s corpse near a several storey building damaged by a Russian strike in a residential area in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Tuesday April 22, 2025. (AP Photo / Kateryna Klochko)
Develop
The attack killed a 69 -year -old woman and injured 24 people, including four children, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov.
The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a telegram that his previous ceasefire offer covering civil sites was still. “Russia must be seriously prepared to talk about it,” said Zelenskyy. “There are no obstacles on the Ukrainian side and there will be none.”
Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, said there were no plans for talks on the proposal. He said Moscow was ready to consider such a step, but noted that reaching an agreement could take time.
“While speaking of civil infrastructure, it is necessary to define clearly when such installations can be a military target and when they cannot,” he said. “If a military meeting is held there, is it a civil installation?” It is. But is it a military target? Yes, it is. There are nuances here that must be discussed. ”
The Ukrainian Air Force said that Russia had drawn 54 Shahed and lure drones to Ukraine overnight, marking a resumption of long -range attacks that castigated civil zones and sown terror.
Russia has increased its use of Shahed drones, expanding its production of the weapon and refining its tactics, said the International Institute of Strategic Studies in a recent analysis.
After Putin said on Saturday ceased a unilateral censorship, Ukraine said that she was ready to make the dismissal, but said Russian attacks were continuing. Zelenskyy said Russia had violated the ceasefire more than 2,900 times.
The Associated Press could not check if a cease-fire was in place along the front line of around 620 miles.
Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine are preparing for the spring military campaign, say the Ukrainian and Western officials.
Follow the coverage of war by the AP in Ukraine in https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
