Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin yet to show interest in peace, Trump envoy admits ahead of latest talks – UK Times

Russia’s ambassador to the UK has said that Russia had “nothing to do with” the Salisbury poisoning attack, despite an official report concluding that President Vladimir Putin “must have” authorised the use of the deadly nerve agent.

Ambassador Andrei Kelin said he did not have a message for the family of Dawn Sturgess, who was killed after coming across the poison in 2018.

He said: “It’s a tragic death, it is of course sad and Russia has nothing to do with it”.

He claimed that instead the poisonings of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were staged by the British government and secret services.

He added: “It has been done by very talented professionals. It reminds me of Ian Fleming or even Agatha Christie”.

Retired Supreme Court judge Anthony Hughes, who carried out the review into Ms Sturgess’s death, found that the attempted assassination of Mr Skripal “must have been authorised at the highest level, by President Putin” and said that the GRU agents were “acting on instructions” when they carried out the attack.

The report concluded that the attempted assassination of Mr Skripal was not “designed simply as revenge against him, but amounted to a public statement…that Russia will act decisively in what it regards as its own interests”.

Putin signed an agreement to deepen the economic ties between the allies as Moscow looks to strengthen an embattled wartime economy, with the two leaders afterwards saying their ties were “resilient to external pressure”.

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Russia has launched a major missile and drone barrage on Ukraine overnight into Saturday as US and Ukrainian officials meet for a third day of talks.

Russia used 653 drones and 51 missiles in the wide-reaching attack, which triggered air raid alerts across the country, Ukraine’s air force said on Saturday morning.

Ukrainian forces shot down and neutralised 585 drones and 30 missiles, the air force said, adding that 29 locations were struck.

At least three people were wounded in the Kyiv region, according to local officials. Drone sightings were reported as far west as Ukraine’s Lviv region.

Russia carried out a “massive missile-drone attack” on power stations and other energy infrastructure in several Ukrainian regions, Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, wrote on Telegram.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its air defences had shot down 116 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight into Saturday.

The head of the Ukrainian armed forces has said that it would be “unacceptable” for Ukraine to “simply give up territory” in a future peace deal with Russia.

Speaking to Sky News, General Oleksandr Syrskyi said: “Our main mission is to defend our land, our country, and our population…Naturally, for us it is unacceptable to simply give up territory. What does it even mean – to hand over our land? This is precisely why we are fighting; so we do not give up our territory.”

He said that a “just peace” for Ukraine would be one “without preconditions, without giving up territory”. He added: “It means stopping along the current line of contact”.

His comments come as Ukrainian officials and US advisers meet in Florida for a third day of talks over the security framework for post-war Ukraine.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff spent almost five hours with Putin in Moscow on Tuesday. After the meeting a Russian official said that “no compromise” had been reached on the crucial issue of control of Ukrainian territory.

Senior Ukrainian and US negotiators will meet for a third day of talks on Saturday after making progress on finding agreement on a security framework for post-war Ukraine.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security council, called on Russia to show a “serious commitment to long-term peace”.

In a statement, after a second day of talks in Florida on Friday, they said that any “real progress towards any agreement” will ultimately depend on Russia’s readiness for peace.

“Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings,” the statement said.

“Parties also separately reviewed the future prosperity agenda which aims to support Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, joint US-Ukraine economic initiatives, and long-term recovery projects.”

The US and Ukrainian officials also discussed “deterrence capabilities” that Ukraine will need “to sustain a lasting peace”.

Friday’s session took place at the Shell Bay Club in Hallandale Beach, a high-end private golf and lifestyle destination owned by Mr Witkoff’s property development company.

Previous diplomatic attempts to break the deadlock have come to nothing and the war has continued unabated. Officials largely have kept a lid on how the latest talks are going, though Mr Trump’s initial 28-point plan was leaked.

Russian drone and missile attacks hit energy infrastructure in eight Ukrainian regions overnight, causing blackouts, Ukraine’s energy ministry said

“Emergency repair work is already underway where safety conditions permit. Energy companies are doing everything possible to restore power to all customers as quickly as possible,” the ministry said.

old soldier known as Monka didn’t see a combat role she could do. But that changed as technology reshaped the battlefield and opened new paths.

Last year, she joined the military as a pilot of short-range, first-person view, or FPV, drones after giving up a job managing a restaurant abroad and returning home to Ukraine to serve.

Her shift is part of a larger trend of more women joining Ukraine’s military in combat roles, a change made possible by the technological transformation of modern warfare, military officials say.

A railway hub near Kyiv was attacked during a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack that damaged the depot and railway carriages, Ukrainian state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia said.

The railway did not report any casualties from the overnight attack in the town of Fastiv.

Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector and infrastructure in recent weeks, targeting power stations and railway hubs.

Ukrzaliznytsia said on Telegram that it was forced to cancel several suburban trains near the capital and the city of Chernihiv in northeastern Ukraine.

Emergency services reported a fire and destruction on the territory of the railway station and depot, but gave no more details.

Ukrainian drones targeted Russia’s Ryazan and Voronezh regions overnight, causing damage but no casualties, local governors said this morning.

The attack sparked a fire on the roof of a multi-storey residential building, and debris from drones fell into the grounds of “an industrial facility,” Ryazan governor Pavel Malkov said.

Malkov did not name the facility. Ukraine has repeatedly targeted a local refinery.

Ukraine has ramped up drone attacks deep inside Russia, aiming to knock out oil refineries, depots and pipelines. Ukrainian drones have struck at least 17 major refineries this year.

In the Voronezh region, governor Alexander Gusev said a drone strike damaged a fuel station, a school and several residential buildings.

Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences shot down 116 Ukrainian drones overnight.