Russia batters Ukrainian cities as Kremlin warns peace talks will take time
The attacks took place ahead of an expected meeting between Ukrainian, British, French and US officials in London on Wednesday to discuss the war.
Russian drones battered the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and glide bombs hit Zaporizhzhia, local authorities said on Tuesday
The attacks came as the Kremlin again warned that negotiators were unlikely to obtain a swift breakthrough in peace talks on the war.
Ukrainian, British, French and US officials are due to meet in London on Wednesday to discuss the situation.
Anticipation is building over whether diplomatic efforts can stop more than three years of fighting since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour. Hostility has run deep since Russia invaded and illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014.
US President Donald Trump said last week that negotiations were “coming to a head” and insisted that neither side was “playing” him in his push to end the war.
This came after US secretary of state Marco Rubio suggested America might soon back away from negotiations if they did not progress.
Mr Rubio has suggested that Wednesday’s meeting could be decisive in determining whether the Trump administration continues its involvement.
Retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, Mr Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia, will represent Washington in the discussions in London, the US State Department said on Tuesday.
Mr Rubio will not attend because of a scheduling issue, according to spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov cautioned that “the settlement issue is so complex that it would be wrong to put some tight limits to it and try to set some short time frame for a settlement, a viable settlement — it would be a thankless task”.
Mr Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Trump envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Moscow again this week.
Western analysts say Moscow is in no rush to conclude peace talks because it has battlefield momentum and wants to capture more Ukrainian land.
Russia has effectively rejected a US proposal for an immediate and full 30-day halt in the fighting by imposing far-reaching conditions.
Odesa came under a “massive attack” by Russian drones overnight, injuring at least three people, the head of Odesa regional administration, Oleh Kiper, wrote on his Telegram page on Tuesday.
A residential building in a densely populated urban area, civilian infrastructure and an educational facility were hit, he said.
Also, during daylight on Tuesday, Russia hit the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia with two massive aerial glide bombs – a retrofitted Soviet weapon that for months it has used to lay waste to eastern Ukraine.
The attack killed a 69-year-old woman and injured 22 people, including three children, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky his earlier offer of a ceasefire covering civilian sites still stands, adding: “Russia needs to be seriously prepared to talk about this. There are no obstacles on the Ukrainian side and there will be none.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there are no plans for talks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposal to halt strikes on civilian facilities.
He said Moscow is prepared to consider such a step but noted that reaching an agreement could take time.
“While talking about civilian infrastructure, it’s necessary to clearly define when such facilities can be a military target and when they can’t,” he said.
“If a military meeting is held there, is it a civilian facility? It is. But is it a military target? Yes, it is. There are some nuances here that need to be discussed.”
The Ukrainian air force said Russia fired 54 Shahed and decoy drones at Ukraine overnight, marking a resumption of long-range attacks that have blasted civilian areas and sown terror throughout the war.
Russia has stepped up its use of Shahed drones in the past months, expanding its production of the weapon and refining its tactics, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said in a recently published analysis.
After Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a unilateral ceasefire on Saturday, Ukraine said it was ready to reciprocate but said Russian attacks were continuing.
Mr Zelensky said that Russia violated the ceasefire more than 2,900 times.
The Associated Press was unable to verify whether a ceasefire was in place along the roughly 620-mile (1,000km) front line.
Russia has effectively rejected a US proposal for an immediate and full 30-day halt in the fighting by imposing far-reaching conditions.
Meanwhile, both Russia and Ukraine are preparing for the spring/summer military campaign, Ukrainian and western officials say.
