Russia unleashes aerial strikes ahead of fresh talks

MOSCOW/KYIV — Russia unleashed large aerial strikes on Ukraine hours before Britain and Germany chaired a meeting on Monday to discuss US President Donald Trump's plans for NATO allies to provide Ukraine with weapons.

The drone and missile attack on Kyiv killed two people and wounded 15, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that air defenses downed 35 Ukrainian longrange drones over several regions overnight, including three over the Moscow region.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who arrived in Kyiv on Monday for talks with Zelensky, visited some of the damaged areas.

The virtual meeting of high-level military officials was led by British Defense Secretary John Healey and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius. Ukraine's Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal urged allies to speed up deliveries of US air defense systems under the plan put forward by Trump.

Trump's arms plan, announced a week ago, involves European nations sending US weapons, including Patriot air defense missile systems.

In a shift of tone toward Russia, Trump last week gave Moscow a 50-day deadline to agree to a ceasefire or face tougher sanctions.

Zelensky also said on Monday that the next round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine will be held on Wednesday in Turkiye.

However, the Kremlin on Tuesday said it wasn't expecting "miraculous breakthroughs" from upcoming talks with Ukraine, the third such round of negotiations in recent months.

"We don't have any reason to hope for some miraculous breakthroughs" at the talks on Wednesday, spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a briefing.

Asked if he could give a sense of how the Kremlin saw the potential time frame of a possible peace agreement, Peskov said he could give no guidance on timing.

Agencies - Xinhua