KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — A project six-day ceasefire in and around a Russian-occupied town in southern Ukraine was held day and night for the first time, officials said Wednesday, but Moscow and kyiv continued to clash elsewhere.
THE localized truce in the devastated southern town of Oleshky began Tuesday and is expected to last until Sunday as a humanitarian operation aims to urgently provide food and medicine to around 2,000 remaining residents, as well as evacuate those who wish to leave.
If the ceasefire holds, it will be the first time since The invasion of Russia of its neighbor it has been more than 4 and a half years since the two parties observed a significant truce. Previous attempts to end the fighting have either failed or quickly fizzled amid deep distrust.
U.S. representative to join Oleshky mission, Ukrainian official says
A U.S. representative will join civilian officials from Russia and Ukraine when they visit Oleshky, Ukraine’s top negotiator for the aid mission said.
“As soon as the road (to Oleshky) is cleared and humanitarian cargo is delivered there, representatives of three countries – Ukraine, the United States and the Russian Federation – will be present on site,” Ukrainian mediator Dmytro Lubinets said.
Evacuated residents will be free to choose between Ukraine and Russia as their destination, he said in an interview with private Ukrainian television 1+1.
Authorities will try to ensure that aid continues to flow to Oleshky for everyone who wants to stay, he said.
Russia and Ukraine thank Melania Trump
Negotiators involved in the humanitarian mission said doctors, medicine, food and water would be sent to Oleshky before the evacuation corridors opened.
Russian occupying forces impose strict limits on who can enter Oleshky, and there was no news on how the humanitarian operation was progressing.
Russian mediator Yana Lantratova and Ukrainian mediator Lubinets both said on Wednesday that there had been no violations of the ceasefire in Olechky in the past 30 hours.
The plight of the town in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region caught the attention of U.S. first lady Melania Trump, and the White House said she negotiated the humanitarian mission.
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Ukrainian and Russian officials, eager to win approval from US President Donald Trump as he pushes for an elusive peace deal, have thanked Melania Trump for her role.
The United States awaits events in the Middle East before setting the date for Russian-Ukrainian negotiations
The ceasefire coincided with U.S.-led plans to bring officials in Moscow and kyiv back to the table next month for technical discussions on how to move forward toward ending the war, although neither side shows signs of backing down on its commitments. key claims.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, speaking in Helsinki on Wednesday, said kyiv “will never accept any formula to the detriment of our sovereignty or territorial integrity.”
The talks between the Ukrainian, Russian and American delegations, which should take place in Abu Dhabi in November, have not yet been scheduled because Washington is waiting developments in the Middle EastZelensky told reporters in remarks Tuesday under embargo until Wednesday.
Zelensky said the leaders of Finland and Norway, who spoke by telephone with Putin on Tuesday, told him that Russia was “serious” in discussing measures to de-escalate the war.
The Ukrainian president said those measures could include a pause in attacks targeting energy infrastructure and commercial maritime traffic, further prisoner exchanges and a discussion on the formats of possible leadership-level meetings.
The call to the Kremlin by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb was surprising. European countries have sought to diplomatically isolate the Russian leader since the invasion.
But since the Putin-Trump summit in Alaska last year, Zelenskyy noted, European governments have quietly resumed contacts with Moscow at the level of national security advisers and between intelligence agencies.
Zelensky considers US disengagement in Kyiv
The war in Iran has depleted stocks of American-made Patriot air defense systems, which Ukraine desperately needs to stop Russian ballistic missiles.
Ukraine is now receiving an average of 12 Patriot interceptor missiles per month this year – a sharp drop from delivery rates in previous years, Zelensky told reporters.
“Imagine this: You can count on 150 missiles a year coming from America, but you have to shoot down 150 ballistic missiles a month,” he said.
The Patriot delivery delays appeared to be part of a trend of American disengagement with Kyiv, Zelenskyy said, after disruptions to vital satellite internet links and intelligence sharing as well as a recent agreement by the Trump administration to buy Russian diesel And waive sanctions.
In contrast, Zelensky thanked Britain for announcing on Wednesday an additional £10 billion ($11.1 billion) of financial support for Ukraine – £7 billion ($7.8 billion) in economic support over the next three years, and another £3 billion ($3.3 billion) in British support for exports, mainly for the supply of weapons. These amounts are in addition to Britain’s current annual support, he said.
He said Prime Minister Andy Burnham was “on the right side of history”. Zelensky said earlier this month that someone was pushing Trump into a position that is “not on the right side of history.”
Elsewhere, the war rages
A Russian drone strike on the city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine injured five people overnight, including a four-year-old child, Ukraine’s emergency service said.
The jet drone attack sparked a major fire that burned down an apartment building, a private home and an industrial building, emergency services said.
In Russia, the Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 531 Ukrainian drones between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.
Officials said apartment buildings and industrial infrastructure in three regions were targeted, injuring eight people.
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Gatopoulos contributed from Kyiv, Ukraine
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Follow AP coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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