Russia launched a deadly drone assault against Ukraine late Saturday while Kyiv’s forces targeted Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea, the latest round of violence between the two sides as U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators meet in Florida in hope of reaching a deal to end the war.
Ukrainian officials said that Russian drone-and-missile assaults in and around Kyiv killed at least three people and wounded dozens more. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the latest Russian attack underscores the need for a lasting end to the fighting.
“Such attacks happen every day. This week alone, the Russians have used nearly 1,400 attack drones, 1,100 guided aerial bombs, and 66 missiles against our people,” Mr. Zelenskyy posted on X. “This is exactly why we must strengthen Ukraine’s resilience every single day. Missiles and air-defense systems are essential, and just as crucial is active work with our partners for peace. We need real, reliable solutions that will help end this war. I thank everyone who is helping.”
Mr. Zelenskyy over the weekend said he had dispatched a delegation to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff in Florida.
Separately, Moscow officials said Ukraine targeted Russian oil tankers and energy infrastructure in the Black Sea.
“We strongly condemn these terrorist attacks and the actions of all parties that facilitated them,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov said in a statement. “We would like to point out that the civilian energy infrastructure facilities that came under attack play an important role in ensuring global energy security and have never been targeted by international restrictions.”
Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure throughout the war, which is nearing its fourth anniversary.
Amid those attacks, the Ukrainian delegation is meeting with Trump administration officials in Florida. In addition to Mr. Rubio and Mr. Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, is also reportedly a part of the talks.
The Ukrainian delegation is led by Security Council Secretary Rustem Umerov. Mr. Umerov replaced the previous leader of the delegation, Andriy Yermak, who resigned as Mr. Zelenskyy’s chief of staff on Friday as Ukrainian authorities searched his home in connection with an energy corruption investigation.
The two sides are discussing Mr. Trump’s proposed peace plan. The U.S. and Ukraine last week said they had reached an “understanding” on the core tenets of the proposal, but that some major issues still needed to be resolved.
Neither side has offered details on what changes have been made to Mr. Trump’s initial plan. The issue of potential territorial concessions from Ukraine to Russia is believed to be the biggest obstacle to a deal.
The initial draft of Mr. Trump’s plan called for Ukraine to cede some land in the Donbas region to Russia, accept limits on the size of its military, agree to not join NATO, and other conditions.
In return, Ukraine would receive security guarantees from the U.S. and European nations, but those guarantees were initially quite vague, and it’s not clear whether there were any concrete mechanisms in the proposal to prevent Russia from attacking Ukraine again in the future.
• Vaughn Cockayne contributed to this report.
