The Kremlin will not accept any presence of NATO troops on Ukrainian territory as part of European proposals for security guarantees.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: It was the advancement of NATO military infrastructure and the infiltration of this military infrastructure into Ukraine that could probably be named among the root causes of the conflict situation that arose.
“So we have a negative attitude towards these discussions.”
Peskov praised US president Donald Trump efforts to end the war as “very important”, following US-Russian summit in Alaska earlier this month.
This comes as the US is reportedly prepared to offer intelligence assets and battlefield oversight and take part in a European-led air defence shield for Ukraine as part of post-war security guarantees, according to the Financial Times.
Last week, Trump suggested the US might provide air support as part of a deal to end the war. He told Fox News: “We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably… by air,” though he didn’t elaborate.
Woman who fled Ukraine to escape war stabbed to death in North Carolina train station
Iryna Zarutska, 23, was left with multiple stab wounds from the attack, which unfolded just before 10pm at the East/West Boulevard light rail station in South End, Charlotte, on Friday, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said.
Zarutska had “recently arrived in the United States, seeking safety from the war and hoping for a new beginning,” according to a GoFundMe set up to support her family.
Isabel Keane reports from New York:
Two children among three dead in Russian attack on Kyiv
At least three people have been killed, including two children, in a wave of overnight Russian strikes targeting Kyiv, officials said in the early hours today.
At least 12 others were injured, they said.The city’s military administration put the death toll at three, with strikes recorded in widely separated districts of the city.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two children were also among the injured.
Officials provided a long list of buildings that had suffered damage, including several high-rise apartment blocks.
Photos posted online showed apartments ablaze and smoke billowing from buildings. The images could not immediately be verified.
Klitschko said two high-rise apartment buildings had been damaged in eastern suburbs of the city.
Recap: Ukraine unveils devastating new ‘Flamingo’ cruise missile that can strike deep inside Russia
Zelensky names Olha Stefanishyna new US ambassador
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on Wednesday appointing Olha Stefanishyna, a former top cabinet minister, as Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States.
Zelensky, speaking in his nightly video address, said he had signed a decree on the appointment of Stefanishyna, 39, after formalities had been completed.
“I outlined the key tasks for reinvigorating the work of our embassy,” he said.
She takes over as ambassador from Oksana Markarova, who held the position for six years, including more than three years of full-scale war with Russia.
Zelensky singled out two agreements as critical — on providing weapons for Ukraine and on supplying drones to the United States.
“The main thing is to fully implement all the agreements reached in Washington, our agreements with President [Donald] Trump, above all in the defence sphere…Much of Ukraine’s long-term security depends on relations with America.”
Stefanishyna had served in Zelensky’s administration as a deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, playing a major role in the country’s integration into Western institutions, and as minister of justice.
German jets scrambled to intercept ‘Russian spy plane’ over Baltic Sea – report
Two German air force Eurofighter jets scrambled to intercept a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea on Tuesday according to German outlet Deutsche Welle.
NATO’s air command gave the order to intercept the aircraft, which was flying in international airspace with its transponders turned off and without submitting a flight plan.
Moscow is suspected of using such aircraft to gather information about NATO military activity on the Baltic coast, particularly in Poland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
Poland has had to scramble jets numerous times along its borders throughout the war.
Pictures: aftermath of Russian drone attack in Sumy region
Watch: Russia strikes key Ukraine energy facility in large-scale drone attack
Ukraine confident Poland will keep funding Starlink at the front
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said he was confident of a solution to continue Poland’s funding of 30,000 Starlink internet systems for Ukraine, after Poland said it might no longer be able to pay for them following a presidential veto.
Poland is the biggest donor of SpaceX’s satellite internet devices to Ukraine. Kyiv uses tens of thousands of them across the frontline as a crucial communication tool resistant to hacking and jamming.
Mykhailo Fedorov, who is also Ukraine’s digitalisation minister, told Reuters in an interview that while Ukraine also had other satellite communication systems, none could match the scale and cost of Starlink, operated by Elon Musk’s rocket company.
“We are communicating with our colleagues and I’m sure that all will be well, that we will find a solution to continue supporting this project,” he said.
Senior Ukrainian officials visit Riyadh to discuss peace options
The Ukrainian president’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak has said that he was in Riyadh along with security council chief Rustem Umerov to discuss paths to peace in Ukraine, and Saudi Arabia’s participation in this process.
Yermak wrote on the Telegram app that they held meetings with the Saudi defence minister and national security adviser.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Turkey, the Gulf States or European countries could host talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
