Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine, assured that a deal to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “very close” and said it depended on resolving Ukraine’s future. the eastern region of Donbass and the Zaporizhia nuclear power plantthe largest in Europe and in the hands of Russian troops since March 2022.
“If you are a soldier, you know that the last ten meters to reach the objective are always the most difficult. This is where the friction lies. I think we’re in the last ten yards when it comes to trying to end this conflict,” he said at the Ronald Reagan Defense Forum.
“I think it comes down to several issues.”“, he said, before clarifying that it concerns the situation in Donbass and the Zaporizhia power plant, adding that “if these two issues are resolved, the rest will be resolved pretty well.” “I think we are almost there,” said Kellogg, who insisted that an agreement “is very close.”
Thus, he recognized that “it was very hard to work on these points with everyone” and stressed that the scale of the war in Ukraine “this is unprecedented at the level of a regional conflict” since the Second World War. “The Soviet Union left Afghanistan after suffering 18,000 casualties. The United States left Vietnam after 58,000. Russia and Ukraine, together, have more than two million,” he explained, without kyiv or Moscow giving estimates of the number of soldiers dead and wounded for months.
“These are horrible figures. We must end the conflict,” reiterated Kellogg, who defended the need to discuss with the Ukrainian and Russian presidents, Volodimir Zelensky and Vladimir Putin respectively, as well as with “everyone who wants to talk” with the United States to reach an agreement that implies the end of the war, started in February 2022.
More than 250 drones over Ukraine
While these negotiations progress, the Russian invasion shows no signs of stopping. This Sunday, Ukrainian authorities denounced the launch of around 250 drones and missiles during the night against different points in the country, adding that around 180 were intercepted. The Ukrainian Air Force said that Russian troops had launched 241 drones and five ballistic missiles in the early morningbefore specifying that a total of 175 unmanned vehicles were shot down, as well as four ballistic missiles, including two Kinzhal and two Iskander-M.
However, it confirmed that 65 drone strikes were recorded in 14 different locations, without providing information on the damage or victims for the moment. “The attack is still in progress. There are several enemy drones in the airspace”they declared on their Telegram account, where they asked the population to respect security recommendations.
Zelensky also denounced him in a message published on his account on the social network. Thus, he argued that last week Russia launched “more than 1,600 kamikaze drones, some 1,200 guided bombs and nearly 70 missiles of various types against Ukraine, the main targets being infrastructures that support daily life”, he lamented in his statement.
“We continue to work with our partners to ensure that in response to these attacks our defenses are strengthened. The priority is clear: more air and missile defense systems, and more support for our defenders,” Zelensky added, before insisting that “all agreements must be implemented more quickly.”
Moscow announces the capture of two cities
For its part, Moscow confirmed an attack on “transport infrastructure, fuel and energy facilities used by the armed forces, as well as a company involved in the production of long-range drones”, in what they described as “a response to Ukrainian terrorist attacks against civilian targets in Russia”. “The objectives have been achieved. All the objectives set have been achieved,” he concluded. Furthermore, the Russian government announced the seizure of two other Ukrainian cities located in the provinces of Donetsk and Kharkiv.
The Russian Defense Ministry indicated in its Telegram account that Russian troops took the city ofand Kucherovkain Kharkiv, after “active operations” in the area, while they also “completed the liberation” of the town of Rivne, in Donetsk, without kyiv having yet commented on these statements.
Likewise, Russian authorities have stated that their air defense systems They destroyed more than 80 drones launched by Ukrainian forces in recent hours, without also commenting for the moment on the possibility of casualties or material damage due to these attacks.
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