Russia unleashed an overnight barrage of missile and drone strikes against Ukraine on Tuesday, hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said that the latest American-backed proposals for a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow looked “quite solid,” even as he hinted at obstacles ahead in the talks.
“There are certain things we are not prepared to accept,” Mr. Zelensky wrote on social media late on Monday about the peace proposals. “And there are things — of that I am sure — that the Russians are not prepared to accept either.”
He added that Ukrainian negotiators were returning from talks in the United States and would brief him on Tuesday morning.
But the Kremlin has shown a willingness to continue the war unabated. Overnight on Monday into Tuesday, just hours after Mr. Zelensky’s comments, Russia bombed Ukraine’s energy sector and civilian buildings with over 650 drones and dozens of missiles, according to Ukrainian authorities.
At least three people were killed, including a four-year-old child in the Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, Mr. Zelensky said on Tuesday. Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s prime minister, said that “energy facilities in western regions of Ukraine were hit the hardest” and that power cuts had been introduced across the country.
Mr. Zelensky’s comments on the latest peace proposals underscored a primary tension in the talks: Russia is likely to reject whatever makes a peace deal acceptable to Ukraine. Reflecting that gap, which centers primarily on questions of territorial concessions and security guarantees, a senior Kremlin official over the weekend called the latest peace proposals “rather unconstructive.”
Ukraine is seeking ironclad security guarantees that would prevent Russia from attacking again once peace is achieved. On Monday, Mr. Zelensky outlined a package discussed with the United States that would include keeping Ukraine’s army at a peacetime strength of 800,000 troops, with funding from Western partners; membership in the European Union; European military support; and bilateral security guarantees from the United States.
Mr. Zelensky said European military support would come from the so-called Coalition of the Willing, a group of about 30 countries that have committed to strengthening Ukraine’s postwar security by contributing to its defenses in the air, on land and at sea. That could include the deployment of European forces in Ukraine.
Russia has long opposed any presence of Western troops in Ukraine, portraying it as a red line in peace talks. Moscow has also sought limits on the size of the Ukrainian military. An earlier peace proposal drafted by the United States and Russia suggested capping the size of the Ukrainian Army at 600,000 troops.
Mr. Zelensky said on Monday that American officials were continuing negotiations with Russian representatives and that Kyiv would “receive feedback” on the discussions.
Constant Méheut reports on the war in Ukraine, including battlefield developments, attacks on civilian centers and how the war is affecting its people.
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