Ukraine and Russia have accused one another of not being critical about peace talks as each side traded blame for assaults on infrastructure.
The renewed accusations on Wednesday got here a day after america stated Ukraine and Russia had agreed to halt navy strikes on vessels within the Black Sea following separate negotiations in Saudi Arabia.
The Ukrainian air power stated 117 drones had been launched from Russia throughout an in a single day assault. A minimum of 56 of the drones had been downed, 48 had been misplaced as a consequence of digital warfare and no harm was induced, it added.
Nevertheless, the mayor of Mykolaiv stated there have been energy outages as a result of drones.
Within the metropolis of Kryvyi Rih, a Russian assault induced fires and broken buildings, however no casualties had been reported. Buildings had been additionally reportedly broken within the border area of Sumy, which has come below heavy assault in latest days.
The pinnacle of the navy administration in Kryvyi Rih, Oleksandr Vilkul, described the drone assault as probably the most vital on the town, including, “Apparently, that is how the occupiers ‘need peace’”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the in a single day barrage of assaults and stated it was a “clear sign to the entire world that Moscow isn’t going to pursue actual peace”.
“Since March 11, there was a US proposal for a complete ceasefire, a whole halt to strikes. And actually each night time, via its assaults, Russia retains saying ‘no’ to our companions’ peace proposal,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
Zelenskyy will meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday earlier than a gathering of world leaders on Thursday that has been billed as a “coalition of the prepared”, which plans to set out safety ensures for Ukraine in any peace deal.
Final night time, there have been one other 117 proofs in our skies of how Russia continues to tug out this battle – 117 strike drones, most of them Shaheds. A major quantity had been shot down by our air defenders.
Dnipro, Sumy, Cherkasy, and different areas got here below Russian assault. There… pic.twitter.com/q4WTj87IHG
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 26, 2025
For its half, the Russian Ministry of Defence stated Ukraine carried out a drone assault on a fuel storage facility on the Crimean Peninsula and an influence set up within the Bryansk area, which sits on the border with Ukraine and its Sumy area.
“The Kyiv regime, whereas persevering with to wreck Russia’s civilian vitality infrastructure, is definitely doing every part it could to disrupt the Russian-American agreements,” it wrote.
Ukraine denied that it had focused Russian vitality infrastructure within the two areas.
Reporting from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari stated additional negotiations can be “tough” as each side proceed to commerce allegations.
“Accusations backwards and forwards illustrate how tough and fragile the state of affairs is between each side on this battle and the way tough the duty the American officers have forward of them,” Jabbari defined.
Within the meantime, NATO Secretary-Normal Mark Rutte warned in Warsaw on Wednesday that the Western defence alliance would reply with a “devastating” blow to any assault by Russia on Poland or one other ally.
On Tuesday, the US reached separate truce agreements with Ukraine and Russia in talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. US negotiators met individually with the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, each of which agreed to stop their assaults at sea.
The 2 sides additionally agreed “to develop measures” for implementing an settlement to ban strikes in opposition to vitality services, the White Home stated.
The US additionally agreed to push for lifting some Western sanctions on Russian meals, fertiliser and delivery within the Black Sea.
The Kremlin stated “a lot of situations” have to be met earlier than the Black Sea deal may be applied, together with restoring hyperlinks between some Russian banks and the worldwide monetary system.
Nevertheless, a spokesperson for the European Union stated on Wednesday that one of many important situations to raise or amend Russian sanctions could be “the tip of the Russian unprovoked and unjustified aggression in Ukraine and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian navy forces”.
Individually on Wednesday, a court docket within the Russian metropolis of Rostov-on-Don convicted 23 Ukrainians on “terrorism” prices in a trial that Kyiv denounced as a sham and a violation of worldwide legislation.
The defendants embody 12 captured members of Ukraine’s elite Azov Brigade, which led the defence of the town of Mariupol within the early months of Russia’s battle.
