During a recent conversation on the Telegram app, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that he engaged in a constructive discussion with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of former President Donald Trump. The discussion, lasting nearly an hour, focused on strategies to bring an end to the conflict with Russia. Zelenskyy expressed optimism about the exchange, citing the emergence of new ideas regarding peace negotiations, meeting formats, and timelines to advance towards a tangible peace agreement.
Zelenskyy disclosed that Ukrainian defense minister Rusten Umerov would further engage with the U.S. delegation to delve into unresolved areas, emphasizing that upcoming weeks might involve intense negotiations to address sensitive matters.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova acknowledged on Thursday the incremental progress in peace talks with the U.S. regarding the Ukraine conflict. Zakharova also pointed out attempts by Western European powers to disrupt the progress and urged the U.S. to counteract such efforts.
Ukraine Targets Russian Energy Facilities
Reports from Ukrainian military and security officials confirmed the use of British Storm Shadow missiles and domestically developed long-range drones to target multiple Russian oil and gas installations. The Ukrainian General Staff disclosed that Storm Shadow cruise missiles had successfully struck the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia’s Rostov region, a significant supplier of oil products to Russian forces in Ukraine.
Additionally, Ukraine’s SBU security service reported drone attacks on oil product tanks in the port of Temryuk in the Krasnodar region and a gas processing plant in Orenburg, southwestern Russia. Notably, the Orenburg gas processing plant, one of the world’s largest facilities of its kind, was hit by the long-range drones, located approximately 1,400 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy laid out a 20-point peace plan that negotiators from Ukraine and the U.S. broadly hammered out recently. Zelenskyy conceded he would be open to making the Donetsk region a demilitarized, free economic zone monitored by international forces.
Russian regional authorities in the Krasnodar region reported that two oil product tanks at the Temryuk port caught fire following the drone strikes, covering an area of about 2,000 square meters. Amidst nearing the fourth year of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, both sides have escalated attacks on energy facilities using drones and missiles, with Kyiv intensifying strikes on Russian oil refineries since August to diminish Moscow’s oil revenue, a crucial financial source for its military operations.