A Russian drone strike on the city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least two on Saturday, a Ukrainian office said, just ahead of anticipated US-Ukraine talks. Regional governor Ivan Fedorov said a man and a woman were killed, while two children were injured when a Russian drone struck a private home in the morning.
The attack occurred shortly before expected US-Ukraine talks, which Ukrainian state media reported would be held late in the day in Miami.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Thursday that he had dispatched an official delegation to the United States to revive stalled US-brokered negotiations aimed at ending Russia’s invasion.
Trilateral discussions involving Russia have so far failed to yield any breakthrough on key issues and have remained stalled as the Iran conflict has taken center state globally.
The White House did not confirm any meeting with the Ukrainian delegation.
Zelenskyy said the main tasks in the US will be to ensure that the trilateral talks resume and that Washington continues to allow other NATO countries to purchase American weapons to send to Ukraine.
A senior Kremlin official indicated Friday that a new round of US-mediated negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv will likely take place soon.
"The pause is temporary; we hope it's temporary regarding the continuation of the trilateral format," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Western European officials have over the past year repeatedly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in negotiations while he tries to press his bigger army's battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land. Russian forces hold nearly 20 per cent of Ukraine.
The latest conflict in the Middle East that began February 28 with Israeli and US strikes on Iran has diverted international attention from Ukraine's plight.
At the same time, Russia is getting a financial windfall from a temporary US waiver on oil sanctions, while Ukraine is desperately short of cash and still waiting for a 90-billion-euro (USD 103 billion) loan promised by the European Union.
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