Kyïv | The Kremlin estimated on Monday that it would take “a lot of work” to obtain advances in peace negotiations with Ukraine, after a new night of Russian bombing across the country.
• Read also: Kyïv offers new talks to Moscow next week
These strikes, which left at least one dead and six injured in Kyïv, took place a few hours before the visit to the Ukrainian capital of the French diplomacy chief, Jean-Noël Barrot.
During his daily press point, the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, told him that the Russian and Ukrainian peace proposals were for the time being “diametrically opposed”.
“There is therefore a lot of diplomatic work to do,” he added, while saying that Moscow was ready for new talks, but that their date had not yet been fixed.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered Moscow to hold a third cycle of discussions this week to try to stop the war after two inexpensive games between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in May and June, in Istanbul.
This armed conflict, launched by the Russian Invasion on a large scale of Ukraine in February 2022, caused, at least, tens of thousands of deaths in both camps, civilians and military.
Moscow notably requires the annexation of five Ukrainian regions, whose Crimea invaded in 2014, as well as the certainty that Kyïv will never join NATO.
Unacceptable requests for Ukraine, which demands solid security guarantees to prevent any new Russian invasion, in particular the delivery of weapons, to which Moscow is opposed.
New night strikes
Faced with the bogging down of the talks, the American president Donald Trump, who had come closer to Moscow to try to obtain advances, expressed his frustration and said he was “disappointed” by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Last Monday, Trump posed Russia a 50 -day ultimatum to end his invasion of Ukraine under penalty of severe sanctions, and said that military equipment, paid by European NATO members, are sent to Ukraine.
At the same time, the fights and bombardments continue tirelessly, making its share of victims every day.
During the night of Sunday to Monday, Russian bombings made one dead and six injured in Kyïv, according to the national police.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, 426 drones and 24 Russian missiles were launched, notably causing damage in the regions of Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv and Kyïv.
The mayor of the capital Vitali Klitschko said that several fires had broken out, especially in a nursery school.
Intercepted drone strikes and debris have also affected residential buildings, a supermarket and the entrance to a metro station, according to Klitschko.
“War on the European Union”
The Ukrainian diplomacy chief Andriï Sybiga denounced “brutal” attacks. “We can end this terror. It is necessary for this that Ukraine gets additional anti-aircraft defenses and long-range capacities (strikes), “he added on X.
His French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot, a two-day visit to Kyïv, went to the Loukianivska metro station, one of the sites damaged by night strikes and which, like other stations, usually serves as shelter to the population during the most intense bombardments.
He said that new European sanctions against Russia aimed to strengthen “the pressure on (the Russian president) Vladimir Putin to increase the cost of this improbable war” and obtain a cease-fire.
Friday, the European Union announced its 18e Package of sanctions against Russia since the 2022 invasion, targeting the Russian oil windfall.
Jean-Noël Barrot also denounced in a speech delivered before the Ukrainian ambassadors gathered in Kyïv a war waged by Russia against “freedom”, “against the European Union” and Russian night strikes aimed at “terrorizing” the population.
Faced with these bombings that mourn Ukraine every day, the Ukrainian army also almost hits Russian territory with drones. On Monday, these attacks forced Vnoukouvo airport, near Moscow, to briefly interrupt its operation.
