Ukraine, Russia trade deadly strikes

KYIV, November 26 ------ Russia rained missiles and drones overnight on Kyiv, killing at least six people, authorities said while three people died in Russia’s Rostov region in massive Ukrainian strikes.

The heightened attacks came after United States President Donald Trump initially gave Ukraine until Nov. 27 — the US’ Thanksgiving holiday — to respond to his proposal to end the fighting, a timeline and blueprint that European leaders have baulked at. The overnight barrage was Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s “terrorist response” to the US proposal, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said four people died and at least three others were wounded in the city’s Svyatoshynsky district. Emergency services earlier said two people died in a strike on an apartment building in the eastern Dniprovsky quarter. Before dawn on Tuesday, Russia’s defense ministry said it had intercepted and destroyed 249 Ukrainian drones — one of the highest figures reported.

In Rostov, Acting Gov. Yuri Sliusar said at least three people were killed, adding: “Tonight’s enemy attack brought great grief.” In the Krasnodar frontier region, Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev called the overnight bombardment “one of the Kyiv regime’s most sustained and massive attacks.” Kyiv and its allies spent the weekend hammering away at Washington’s 28-point plan, which initially hewed close to Russia’s hardline demands, requiring the invaded country to cede territory, cut its military and pledge never to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. An updated version, aiming to “uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty,” was thrashed out over the weekend at emergency talks in the southwestern Swiss city of Geneva.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron warned against any “capitulation” by Kyiv, adding in an interview broadcast on Tuesday that only the Ukrainians could decide on what territorial concessions they were willing to make. “The only question we don’t have an answer to is whether Russia is ready to make a lasting peace,” he said. “A peace where they don’t reinvade Ukraine” later on. Putin, who welcomed the original US plan to end the fighting, has threatened to seize more Ukrainian territory if Kyiv walks away from the negotiations. Russia’s military already occupies around a fifth of Ukraine, much of it ravaged by years of fighting.

Revised plan

Ukrainian, American, and European officials met in Switzerland on Sunday after the US proposal to halt the war was widely criticized as requiring too many concessions from Kyiv. A joint US-Ukrainian statement after the weekend talks announced an “updated and refined peace framework.” While the latest draft has not been published, the White House hailed it as progress, and the joint statement affirmed “any future agreement must fully uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty.” Kyiv’s delegation said the latest draft “already reflects most of Ukraine’s key priorities.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had thrown doubt on the ability to strike a deal by Trump’s Nov. 27 deadline, saying that discussions would be a “lengthy, long-lasting process.” The US had bypassed Europe with the original plan, and many European governments were unsettled by the prospect of ending the war on Moscow’s terms. The White House has pushed back on criticism that Trump was favoring Russia. “The idea that the United States of America is not engaging with both sides equally in this war to bring it to an end is a complete and total fallacy,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday.

In his interview on Tuesday, Macron said what had been put forward “gives us an idea of what is acceptable for the Russians.” A senior official briefed on the Geneva talks told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the US had pressed Ukraine to accept the proposal. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington did not directly threaten to cut off aid if Kyiv rejected its proposals, but that Ukraine understood this was a distinct possibility.

Source: manilatimes.net