KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia battered Ukraine’s power grid again and Ukrainian forces hit another of Russia’s biggest oil refineries, officials said Monday, hours before delegations from Moscow and Kyiv were due to meet for new U.S.-brokered talks on how to end the fighting.
Nearly five years after Russia invaded its neighbor, the two countries remain locked in battle with no sign that either side is ready to budge from its demands. The war has already
killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians, analysts and humanitarian organizations say.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday that Moscow and Kyiv are “very close” to a deal, despite the “tremendous hatred” between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He said that Ukraine would have “a little bit different shape” under the settlement, but he didn’t elaborate.
Trump has previously made claims about developments in the war which haven't materialized.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Monday that it had targeted four electrical substations in Ukraine’s Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Vinnytsia regions. The attacks are part of Russia's campaign to deny Ukrainian civilians heating, light and running water during the approaching winter.
Zelenskyy said Monday the European Union had agreed to activate a special emergency mechanism that speeds up funding for power grid repairs.
Russia launched 317 drones of various types including 105 jet-powered drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said.
Russian aerial attacks have pummeled Ukraine throughout the war, with gruesome consequences. A Russian glide bomb attack last week near the front line in the southern Zaporizhzhia region killed at least 55 people at an aid distribution center.
Meanwhile, long-range drones developed by Ukraine during the war started a fire at the KINEF oil refinery, one of Russia’s largest, close to St. Petersburg and more than 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) from the Ukrainian border, Leningrad Gov. Alexander Drozdenko said Monday.
Ukraine claimed in early October that its long-range strikes had neutralized more than half of Russia’s oil refining capacity, hampering Moscow’s ability to supply its forces.
The last three-way talks, in Geneva in February, also took place amid continuing attacks. They delivered no significant progress in ending the war, but some circumstances have changed.
Trump, whose stance on the war has varied, has to reckon with Democrats taking over Congress in January following the U.S. midterm elections. They could demand more support for Ukraine.
Russian state finances are under heavy strain due to the war, and Ukraine’s economy is being choked by the relentless attacks.
In Abu Dhabi, a planned two days of talks beginning Tuesday will look at what security guarantees would satisfy Russia, which sees NATO as a threat, and Ukraine, which wants to prevent future Russian invasions.
Putin has sought to sideline European countries and negotiate Ukraine’s future directly with Trump. Moscow says European officials won’t be involved in the Abu Dhabi discussions, but French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Sunday that France and other European representatives would be in the United Arab Emirates.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday that the meeting would focus on trilateral negotiations, with the United States mediating between Russia and Ukraine.
“You are aware that the Americans have their own channels of communication with the Europeans, as do the Ukrainians, and it appears they are already establishing their own methods of coordination,” Peskov said. “But, to reiterate, this is a matter of trilateral negotiations.”
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AP reporter Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
