Ukraine — Officials stated on Sunday that a Ukrainian drone strike started flames at one of Russia's Black Sea ports. This happened just before new talks to end the nearly four-year-old war.
According to regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev, two individuals were hurt in the attack on the port of Taman in the Krasnodar region. The attack also destroyed an oil storage tank, a warehouse, and terminals.
Officials reported that falling debris from Russian drones damaged civilian and transportation facilities in Ukraine's Odesa area, which caused problems with the power and water supplies.
Ukraine's long-range drone strikes against Russian energy assets are meant to stop Moscow from getting the oil money it needs to carry out its full-scale invasion. Russia aims to destroy Ukraine's electricity grid so that citizens can't get heat, light, or running water. Kyiv officials claim this is an attempt to "weaponize winter."
The attacks happened immediately before another round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian diplomats in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday. This was soon before the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Saturday. He said that there were still uncertainties about what security assurances would be available for his country in the future. Zelenskyy also asked how the U.S. idea of a free trade zone would function in the Donbas region, which Russia says Kyiv must give up for peace.
He claimed that the Americans want peace as soon as possible and that the U.S. side wants to sign all the agreements on Ukraine at once. However, Ukraine wants the guarantees for the country's future security to be inked first.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a senior member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, agreed with Zelenskyy's worries.
"Unless we get real security guarantees on whatever peace agreement is reached, we'll be back here again," she told reporters in Munich on Sunday. "One thing we know is that Russia is ready for more than just Ukraine."
Kaja Kallas, the European Union's foreign policy leader, claimed that Russia wanted to win diplomatically what it couldn't win on the battlefield and was counting on the U.S. to make concessions at the negotiating table. Kallas, on the other hand, told the Munich conference on Sunday that important Russian demands, such as easing sanctions and unfreezing assets, were up to Europe to decide.
"If we want a lasting peace, the Russians also need to give in," she remarked.
Two rounds of discussions in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, were the most recent U.S.-led attempts to reach an agreement on ending the war. These talks did not settle difficult issues, such as the future of Ukraine's Donbas industrial heartland, which is mostly held by Russian forces.
