Ukraine has agreed to an updated US-brokered peace deal as Russia launches attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid
Russia has ramped up its drone attacks on Ukraine recent months, targeting civilian sites as well as energy infrastructure.
At least three people were killed and 29 injured in Russian attacks on and around Ukraine’s capital Kyiv early on Saturday, as Ukrainian officials travelled to the US to advance peace talks.
Their discussions will be followed by a US delegation to Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin in the latter half of next week.
Ukraine has agreed to an updated US-brokered peace deal, after rejecting an initial 28-point plan proposed by Donald Trump.
The deal featured a number of key Kremlin demands, including large territorial concessions, limits on Ukraine’s armed forces and a ban on Ukrainian Nato membership, and was described by analysts as a Putin’s “wishlist and dreamsheet”.
Ukraine’s European allies put forward their own proposal, which removed many maximalists Russian demands, before entering into talks with the US in Geneva.
Following the meeting, Ukraine and the US said they had an agreed to an “updated” proposal, but have not yet released details.
But as talks have progressed, frontline battles, infrastructure damage and civilian attacks have all continued to rise.
As winter takes hold, Russia has launched attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid – causing power cuts and blackouts as the country – and renewed offensives into key frontline cities.
Analysts said that the Kremlin was trying to make advances to break Ukraine’s will in peace talks and to give it the best possible starting point for territorial negotiations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously said that Russia’s continued attacks show it is not serious about peace, saying: “Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table.”
Vladyslav Faraponov, president of the Kyiv-based Institute of American Studies, previously told The i Paper that any peace agreement “must be built on a genuine ceasefire.”
“It is unrealistic to expect Ukraine to remain silent while Russian missiles and drones continue to strike civilians across the country,” he said.
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In response, Ukraine has continued its efforts to cut off the oil supplies which are funding Russia’s invasion, striking a major oil terminal near the port of Novorossiysk, which caused it to suspend operations on Saturday.
Ukrainian naval drones also hit two sanctioned tankers sailing to Novorossiysk as they headed to a Russian port to load up with oil destined for foreign markets, an official announced today.
The two oil tankers were empty, according to a Security Service of Ukraine spokesperson.
Video footage showed Naval drones speeding towards hulking tankers followed by powerful explosions that caused fires on the vessels.
Ukraine has repeatedly called on the West to take action against Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”, which it says is helping Moscow export large quantities of oil and fund its war.
Zelensky is set to visit French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday.
The Elysee Palace said in a statement the two leaders will discuss “the conditions of a just and durable peace”, following the talks in Geneva and the American peace plan.
But Ukraine’s own peace efforts have been unexpectantly hampered by the resignation of Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrii Yermak – the country’s lead negotiator in US-brokered peace talks – after anti-corruption investigators searched Yermak’s home.
From the White House, it may seem that a ceasefire in Ukraine is finally nearing. But on the battlefields and bomb shelters of Ukraine, peace still feels far away.
