Missiles fly as 3rd round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks kick off in Geneva

Ukraine’s lead negotiator says Kyiv will work ‘constructively’ but ‘without excessive expectations’.

Russian and Ukrainian officials launched a third round of United States-brokered peace negotiations in Switzerland, days before the Ukraine war hits its four-year mark.

Ukraine’s lead negotiator Rustem Umerov said the two days of talks that started on Tuesday will include “security and humanitarian issues”.

The Ukrainian side is “working constructively, focused and without excessive expectations”, Umerov posted on social media.

Ahead of the talks, Russia carried out heavy air strikes overnight across swathes of Ukraine, inflicting severe damage to the power network in the southern port city of Odesa, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said left tens of thousands of people without heat and water.

Zelenskyy called for Kyiv’s allies to increase pressure on Russia to reach a “real and just” peace deal via tougher sanctions and weapons supplies to Ukraine.