KYIV, Ukraine — 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 their demands. The war has already killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians, analysts and humanitarian organizations say.
Talks aim to build momentum for settlement, U.S. envoy says
The three-way talks between envoys from the U.S., Russia and Ukraine are due to start in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday and last for two days. The previous round of talks was in February.
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 statements about developments in the war which haven't materialized.
Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who will mediate in the talks with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, said that the priorities will be ending the conflict, finding ways to stop the war reigniting, reviving Ukraine’s postwar economy and preparing humanitarian aid.
“We hope these discussions will identify areas of common ground, advance practical solutions, and build momentum toward the next phase of negotiations,” Kushner said on X Monday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that Trump’s team has placed “collective security,” covering not just Russia and Ukraine but also a wider area, at the top of the agenda.
Moscow insists that Europe won't be in the 3-way talks
The last three-way talks, in Geneva nine months ago, 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 the U.S. Congress in January following the U.S. midterm elections. They could demand more support for Ukraine.
Russian state finances are under heavy strain because of the war, and Ukraine's economy is being choked by the relentless attacks.
In Abu Dhabi, the talks 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. However, European leaders and Ukraine have insisted that they be included.
Moscow says that European representatives won’t be directly involved in the Abu Dhabi discussions, but European officials said that representatives will be in the United Arab Emirates.
Ukraine’s lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said that European officials will hold “separate coordination” with the delegation from Kyiv.
Kushner said that before the talks in Abu Dhabi begin, he and Witkoff will consult with officials from Ukraine, the European Union, NATO, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy.
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.”
Russia hits electrical substations, Ukraine targets a refinery
Russian forces targeted four electrical substations in Ukraine’s Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Vinnytsia regions, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday. The attacks are part of Russia’s campaign to deny Ukrainian civilians heating, light and running water during the approaching winter.
Zelenskyy said Monday that 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.
On Monday, Russian forces hit a warehouse in Odesa in southwestern Ukraine containing food supplies for kindergartens and schools, killing three people, local officials said.
Meanwhile, an attack by 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 said 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.
Ukrainian forces also struck a plant near St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, that produces solid rocket propellant for Russia’s Iskander-M ballistic missiles, Ukraine’s General Staff said.
Ukraine is trying to prevent Russia from firing ballistic missiles, which Kyiv’s forces can’t stop once they are in the air without more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems. Patriot missiles, however, are in short supply.
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Katie Marie Davies contributed to this report from Manchester, England.
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Follow the AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine