Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he had “very good” talks with US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, focused on ending the “brutal Russian war”.
“We discussed certain substantive details of the ongoing work,” he said in a post on social media.
“There are good ideas that can work toward a shared outcome and the lasting peace,” he added.
Mr Zelensky thanked the two envoys for their “constructive approach, the intensive work, and the kind words”.
“We are truly working 24/7 to bring closer the end of this brutal Russian war against Ukraine and to ensure that all documents and steps are realistic, effective, and reliable,” he added.
They had also agreed during the conversation that Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov would speak with the two envoys again.
Mr Zelensky’s post came a day after having said that Ukraine had won some limited concessions in the latest version of a US-led draft plan to end the Russian invasion.
The 20-point plan, agreed on by US and Ukrainian negotiators, is being reviewed by Russia.
However, the Kremlin has previously not shown a willingness to abandon its territorial demands for full Ukrainian withdrawal from the east.
Mr Zelensky conceded that there were some points in the document that he did not like.
But he said Kyiv had succeeded in removing immediate requirements for Ukraine to withdraw from the Donetsk region or that land seized by Moscow’s army would be recognised as Russian.
Russia sees ‘steady progress’ in Ukraine peace talks – official
Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow sees slow but steady progress in peace talks with the US on Ukraine.
“In the negotiation process on a settlement of the Ukraine conflict, I mean in the negotiation process with the United States, there is slow but steady progress,” she said.
Ms Zakharova added that western European countries were trying to torpedo the progress and suggested that the US should counter such moves.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has launched British-made Storm Shadow missiles and its domestically produced long-range drones to hit several Russian oil and gas facilities, Ukrainian military and security officials have said.
Ukraine has previously used the missiles to attack Russian industrial targets that it says help Russia’s war.
The Ukrainian General Staff said that the air force used Storm Shadow cruise missiles to strike the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.
Mr Zelensky’s post came a day after Ukraine had secured some concession in the talks
“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” the General Staff said on the Telegram app.
It said the refinery was one of the biggest oil product suppliers in southern Russia and was supplying diesel and jet fuel to the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s SBU security service said that the locally made long-range drones hit oil product tanks in the Russian port of Temryuk in the Krasnodar region and a gas processing plant in Orenburg in southwestern Russia.
The Orenburg gas processing plant, the largest facility of its kind in the world, is located about 1,400km from the Ukrainian border.
In the Krasnodar region, Russian regional authorities said that two oil product tanks caught fire at the southern port of Temryuk after the drone attack.
Flames covered an area of about 2,000 square metres, authorities at the Krasnodar operational headquarters said on Telegram.
As Russia’s war in Ukraine approaches its four-year mark and diplomatic efforts to end it have so far failed to produce any tangible results, both Ukraine and Russia have stepped up their drone and missile attacks on energy facilities.
Ukraine has increased its strikes on Russia’s oil refineries and other energy infrastructure since August as it seeks to cut Moscow’s oil revenues, a key source of funding for its war effort.
The Ukrainian General Staff also said that Ukrainian troops hit a military airfield in the Russian city of Maikop in the republic of Adygea in the North Caucasus region.
Polish troops patrolling the country’s border with Belarus
Poland scrambles jets to intercept Russian aircraft
Poland sent fighter jets to intercept a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near its airspace over the Baltic Sea and said dozens of objects entered from Belarus overnight, warning the incidents during the Christmas season may signal a provocation.
“This morning, over the international waters of the Baltic Sea, Polish fighter jets intercepted, visually identified, and escorted from their area of responsibility a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near the borders of Polish airspace,” the Polish army said.
Countries on NATO’s eastern flank have been on high alert for potential airspace incursions since September when three Russian military jets violated Estonia’s airspace for 12 minutes just days after more than 20 Russian drones had entered Polish airspace.
Poland’s National Security Bureau said several dozen objects entered Polish airspace from the Belarusian side and four discovered so far had been identified as likely smuggling balloons.
“…the mass nature of the violation of Polish airspace, its occurrence during the special holiday season, the assessment of the Russian aircraft’s activity in the Baltic Sea, and the fact that similar incidents have recently occurred in Lithuania, may indicate that this was a provocation disguised as a smuggling operation,” it said.
Belarusian and Russian embassies in Warsaw did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Smuggler balloons from Belarus have repeatedly disrupted air traffic in Lithuania, forcing Vilnius airport closures.
Lithuania has said they are sent by smugglers transporting cigarettes and constitute a “hybrid attack” by Belarus, a close ally of Russia.
Belarus has denied responsibility for the balloons.
The Polish army said part of the airspace over northeast Poland’s Podlaskie region, which borders Belarus, was temporarily closed to civilian traffic to ensure security.
