Ukraine and Russia exchange deadly strikes as negotiators race to refine deal

Russia rained missiles and drones overnight on Kyiv, killing six people, authorities said on Tuesday, as three people died in Russia’s Rostov region in massive Ukrainian strikes. The heightened attacks came after US President Donald Trump initially gave Kyiv until November 27 - the American holiday of Thanksgiving - to respond to his proposal to end the fighting, a timeline and blueprint that European leaders have balked at. Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said four people died and at least three were wounded in the Svyatoshynsky district. Emergency services earlier said two people died in a strike on a residential building in the eastern Dniprovsky quarter. Before dawn on Tuesday, Russia’s defence ministry said it had intercepted and destroyed 249 Ukrainian drones – one of the highest figures reported. In Russia’s Rostov region, acting governor Yuri Sliusar said at least three people were killed, adding: “Tonight’s enemy attack brought great grief”. In the Krasnodar frontier region, Governor 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 aligned close to Russia’s hardline demands, requiring the invaded country to cede territory, cut its military and pledge never to join Nato. An updated version, aiming to “uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty”, was thrashed out over the weekend at emergency talks in Geneva. Countries supporting Kyiv were expected to hold a video call on Tuesday to discuss the state of the plan. “We must be cognisant that Russia will not ease its pressure on Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Zelensky described his country as being in a “critical moment”, saying Ukraine risked losing either its “dignity” or Washington as an ally. US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll met with Russian officials for several hours in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, a US official confirmed to Associated Press. Driscoll, who became part of the US negotiating team less than two weeks ago, was heading up the latest phase of talks. The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations, also noted the Ukrainians were aware of the meeting. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that any amended US peace plan for Ukraine must adhere to the “spirit and letter” of understandings reached between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at their Alaska summit. Speaking in Moscow, Lavrov stated Russia initially welcomed the US proposal but is now awaiting a revised “interim” version coordinated with Ukraine and Europe. He warned that if the updated plan fails to reflect the August Alaska discussions between Putin and Trump, Russia will view the initiative “very differently.” Putin 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. Kyiv and its European allies say the war, the largest and deadliest on European soil since World War II, is an unprovoked and illegal land grab. Tens of thousands of civilians and military personnel have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukrainian, American and European officials met in Switzerland on Sunday after the US proposal to halt the war was widely criticised as requiring too much capitulation. 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 November 27 deadline, saying that discussions would be a “lengthy, long-lasting process”, while France’s President Emmanuel Macron said that aspects of the plan needed improvement. “It’s an initiative that goes in the right direction: peace. However, there are aspects of that plan that deserve to be discussed, negotiated, improved,” Macron told RTL radio on Tuesday. “We want peace, but we don’t want a peace that would be a capitulation.” The United States had bypassed Europe with the original plan, and many EU 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 favouring 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. A senior official told Agence France-Presse that the United States 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. Additional reporting by Associated Press and Reuters

Ukraine and Russia exchange deadly strikes as negotiators race to refine deal

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hundreds of drones fired as negotiators thrash out changes to a US peace plan by Trump’s November 27 deadline

Hundreds of drones fired as negotiators thrash out changes to a US peace plan by Trump’s November 27 deadline