A top Russian official said Friday he has arrived in the United States for talks with US officials. Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s envoy for investment and economic cooperation, announced his visit in a post on X. He said it was “planned a while ago” on an invitation “from the US side.”
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Dmitriev has been a key interlocutor in discussions between the Trump administration and the Kremlin on numerous issues, including the Ukraine war and the release of American detainees in Russia.
Putin’s unbudging stance has exasperated Western leaders.
“He’s rejected the opportunity for talks once again, instead making ludicrous demands for Ukrainian land, which he could not and has not taken by force,” Starmer said at a news conference alongside Zelensky and several other European leaders. “Of course, that is a complete non-starter.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Putin’s goals remain unchanged but he “is running out of money, troops and ideas.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof also attended Friday’s meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” in person. About 20 other leaders joined by video link.
Russia says it has captured Ukrainian villages
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Friday that over the past week its forces have captured 10 Ukrainian villages. The small conquests are part of Russia’s slow but steady slog to envelop the remaining Ukrainian strongholds in the Donetsk region from both the north and the south and create footholds for pressing further west into the Dnipropetrovsk region.
The Defence Ministry also said its forces downed 111 Ukrainian drones over several regions overnight, with debris causing damage to homes and infrastructure.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that air defences downed three drones heading to the city, which forced flights to be suspended at two Moscow airports.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities said Russian artillery struck a residential block in the southeastern city of Kherson on Friday, killing two people and injuring 22 others.
Russian planes also dropped at least five powerful glide bombs on the northeastern city of Kharkiv, injuring six people and damaging homes, according to Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov.
And for the first time, Russia fired glide bombs on Ukraine’s southern Odesa region Friday, according to Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, calling it “a new, serious threat” in the area. Glide bombs are significantly cheaper than missiles and carry a heavier payload.
AP
