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Russia claims to be open to talks as one person killed and dozens wounded in Russian strike on Kharkiv
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Moscow has responded to US threats to will abandon peace talks between Russia and Ukraine within days unless there are clear signs that a deal can be reached.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted progress on a peace settlement had already been made, claiming Russia was striving to resolve the conflict. He said Moscow remained open to dialogue with Washington but that contacts were difficult.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Donald Trump had many other priorities worldwide and may move on unless there were signs of progress.
Talks in Paris among US, Ukrainian and European officials produced outlines for steps toward peace. One source said US proposals involved Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia remaining under Moscow’s control and the US dropping sanctions on Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials announced they had signed an outline of a US minerals deal and that a final accord could be reached by the end of next week.
A Russian missile attack on Ukraine‘s northeastern city of Kharkiv killed one person and wounded 82 others, including six children, on Friday morning, officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused China of supplying weapons, including gunpowder and artillery, to Russia. China has dismissed the accusation.
A deal due to be signed next week by Ukraine and the US includes setting up a joint reconstruction investment fund between the two countries.
The draft recognises the “significant financial and material support” Washington has given Kyiv since Russia’s invasion, a screenshot shows.
The document does not clarify whether profits from future investments will be used to “pay back” the US for military aid previously made.
Ukrainian, US and European officials and diplomats are due to hold a new meeting next week in London to discuss the next steps towards a peace deal.
Landmark talks in Paris on Thursday produced outlines for some steps.
US proposals for a peace deal would effectively freeze the war, with Ukrainian territories now occupied by Russia remaining under Moscow’s control, European sources told Bloomberg.
Kyiv’s aspirations of joining Nato would also be off the table.
The outline of the US plan was shared during meetings in Paris on Thursday.
Ukraine is imposing sanctions on three Chinese companies after President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed China has been supplying weapons to Russia.
China’s foreign ministry has dismissed the accusation as groundless.
Breaking news: The US has offered to ease sanctions on Russia in a peace proposal for Ukraine, it’s been reported.
Bloomberg News says the US presented allies with proposals to enable a peace deal, including an outline of terms to end the fighting and ease sanctions on Moscow in the event of a lasting ceasefire.
Activist Darya Kozyreva, who is charged with repeatedly discrediting the Russian armed forces, delivers a speech during a court hearing in St Petersburg, Russia, before the verdict is announced.
Moscow’s defence ministry has accused Ukraine of attacking Russian energy facilities four times during the past 24 hours despite a moratorium on striking each other’s energy infrastructure.
Russia has kept up a series of deadly strikes on Ukrainian cities, according to officials there, wounding scores of civilians days after missiles killed at least 34 during Palm Sunday celebrations in the northern city of Sumy.
One person died and 98 others, including six children, were hurt as Russia hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, early in the day, its mayor Ihor Terekhov reported on Friday. He said cluster munitions struck a “densely populated” neighborhood four times.
Russian drones also targeted a bakery in Sumy, less than a week after the deadly Palm Sunday strike there, killing a customer and wounding an employee, the regional prosecutor’s office said. Photos released by the agency showed rows of Easter cakes stacked inside a devastated building, covered in thick dust, as a huge hole gaped in the wall behind them and rubble piled up on the floor.
Last Sunday’s strike on Sumy, resulting in mass casualties, was the second large-scale missile attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week. Some 20 people, including nine children, died on 4 April as missiles struck Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih.
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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kremlin responds to US threat to abandon peace talks while Kyiv nears Trump minerals deal – The Independent
