Ukraine strikes Crimean bridge, Russia launches deadly strike in Sumy
CBC
Senior Ukrainian officials visited Washington on Tuesday seeking U.S. support against Russia while accusing Moscow of dragging its feet in peace talks.
Kyiv showed its ability to continue fighting by setting off an explosive device under a bridge that has become a symbol of the Kremlin's claims on Ukrainian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian artillery strike killed four people in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy, an area where Russian forces have been making advances.
Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, writing on Telegram after meeting U.S. Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg, accused Russia of "playing for time, manipulating the talks, trying to avoid U.S. sanctions and not wanting a ceasefire."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha was more blunt, saying Russia had ignored a request to comment on Ukraine's proposals at Monday's second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul.
"We demand Russia's reply. Each day of silence from them proves their wish to continue the war," Sybiha wrote on social media.
Russia, he said, had "passed a set of old ultimatums that do not move the situation any closer to true peace."
Yermak, in the United States with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, also said he briefed U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff "on the real situation on the battlefield" and invited him to visit Ukraine "to witness the situation first-hand."
"We need a ceasefire — we have fully supported the U.S. proposal on this since March. We are also ready for a leaders' meeting, which Russia continues to avoid," he said.
A U.S. official said Yermak was scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday.
Yermak said officials would also discuss a deal that gives the U.S. preferential access to new Ukrainian mineral projects and sets up an investment fund that could be used for reconstruction.
Monday's talks in Istanbul made little headway toward ending Russia's war in Ukraine, apart from an exchange of proposals and an undertaking to conduct a new large-scale swap of prisoners of war.
Moscow has responded to accusations of foot-dragging by saying Ukraine is not making a genuine effort to seek peace.
At the talks, Russia told Ukraine it would agree to end the war only if Kyiv gives up big, new chunks of territory and accepts limits on the size of its army. Ukraine rejects the Russian conditions as tantamount to surrender.
