Leaders of the world's major powers are debating the war while bombs and drones from both sides continue to fall in Ukraine. Tonight, a Russian attack on the city of Dolynska, in the center of the country, injured a mother and her two children and forced the evacuation of several people from 38 apartments after their building was affected.
Both Moscow and Kiev deny attacking civilians in the war, which Russia began with its large-scale invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainians. At least 12,654 civilians have died in the Ukraine war since it began in February 2022, 673 of them children, while the injured amount to 29,392, according to the UN.
The attack takes place as senior Russian and American officials meet in Saudi Arabia to negotiate - without the participation of Kiev or its European allies - how to end the war in Ukraine. In Europe, Macron gathered the main leaders on Monday to establish a common strategy for the negotiations between Trump and Putin.
Washington sent its Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday; and Moscow sent two experienced negotiators: Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kremlin's diplomatic council Yuri Ushakov, who also landed in Riyadh on Monday.
Russia Claims to Have Taken a Town North of the Ukrainian Bastion of Sloviansk
The Russian army claimed today to have taken a Ukrainian town located about 30 kilometers north of the strategic Ukrainian bastion of Sloviansk in the Donetsk region, reports Efe.
"Thanks to the decisive actions of the units of the Zapad (West) military group, the town of Yampolivka of the Donetsk People's Republic was liberated," the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Telegram.
According to the war report, in this sector of the front covering parts of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv in the east of the country, Russian forces faced six Ukrainian brigades (including three motorized brigades) and caused more than 205 casualties.
Russia and the US Take a Break in Their First Negotiations in Riyadh
The delegations of Russia and the United States took a brief break today in Riyadh in their first direct negotiations since the start of the war in Ukraine, reported the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, according to Efe.
"A short break has been announced at this time. The parties will continue the negotiation process shortly," Zakharova said in a press conference broadcast by Russian state television.
Russia Recognizes "the Right" of Ukraine to Join the EU but Not NATO
Russia acknowledged on Tuesday the "sovereign right" of Ukraine to join the European Union but maintained its opposition to it joining NATO, considering addressing broader security issues in Europe as "impossible" to resolve the Ukrainian conflict, reports Efe.
"A lasting and viable long-term resolution is impossible without a comprehensive examination of security issues on the continent," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Russian President Vladimir Putin "stated that he would be willing to negotiate with (Ukrainian Volodymyr) Zelensky if necessary," Peskov added in Moscow, while senior US and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia.
The EU Wants to "Collaborate" with the US for a "Fair" Peace in Ukraine
The European Union wants to "collaborate" with the United States for a "fair and lasting" peace in Ukraine, stated the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on X network, after meeting with Donald Trump's special envoy on Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, reports Afp.
"The moment is crucial. Financially and militarily, Europe has contributed more than anyone else. And we will intensify our efforts," she declared after the meeting in Brussels.
Putin Willing to Negotiate with Zelensky, Despite Doubts About His Legitimacy
Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to negotiate with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, although he doubts his legitimacy, the Kremlin assured today, coinciding with the first direct contact between representatives of Russia and the US since the start of the war, reports Efe.
"Putin himself has said on several occasions that he will hold negotiations with Zelensky if necessary," said Dmitry Peskov, presidential spokesman.
France Announces New Sanctions Against Russian Oil Next Week
Russia will face new international sanctions against its oil, which has partly managed to bypass previous ones by using third-party ships, to "force" Moscow to negotiate peace in Ukraine, announced French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Tuesday, reports Efe.
"We will continue to increase the cost of the war for Vladimir Putin, and starting next Monday, we will impose a new set of sanctions, the sixteenth since the start of the war, to force Vladimir Putin to sit at the negotiation table," Barrot stated in an interview with France Info.
These sanctions - he specified - will focus "essentially on the energy resources that Russia uses to finance its war effort," particularly on the means to bypass the mechanism to apply a price cap on Russian oil.
Zelensky to Meet with Erdogan to Deepen Cooperation with Turkey
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet on Tuesday in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to deepen relations with Turkey as the US and Russia have begun talks in Riyadh to negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine, reports Efe.
Upon his arrival in Ankara on Monday night, Zelensky highlighted on his X account the commitment to continue efforts to achieve more prisoner exchanges with Russia.
The Ukrainian president landed at 18:08 GMT on Monday and was received by the Turkish Trade Minister, Ömer Bolat, according to the Turkish agency Anadolu, and the meeting with Erdogan will begin at 11:00 GMT.
France Says Any Troop Deployment to Ukraine Will Be Considered with a Peace Agreement
France considers it premature to discuss the deployment of European peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, a matter that can only be considered when there is a peace agreement, and no country participating in the emergency meeting held yesterday in Paris said they intended to send their soldiers, reports Efe.
This is the position expressed on Tuesday by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot regarding the discrepancies among Europeans on this delicate issue, in an interview with France Info in which he emphasized that Europeans will necessarily have to be at any negotiation table on Ukraine.
"It is not a request, it is a statement," Barrot stressed before adding that "reality is relentless. Only Ukrainians will be able to decide to stop fighting when the time comes, and they will only do so when they are certain that the peace reached is lasting. And how will they have that certainty? Only if they have guarantees that they will not be attacked again."
The Significant but Unknown Human Toll of the War in Ukraine
Hundreds of names and photos, along with Ukrainian flags, make up an improvised memorial in Kiev's central square to remember the fallen soldiers. However, almost three years after the start of the Russian invasion, there is no official victim count.
A week before the third anniversary of the conflict, diplomatic tensions are rising following the phone conversation between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
The war could have caused hundreds of thousands or even a million deaths and injuries, according to statements from Ukrainian and Russian officials and estimates from Western countries, reports Afp.