Russia and US hold ‘frank’ talks on Ukraine war

AFP :

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US top diplomat Marco Rubio held “frank” talks on the Ukraine war during a meeting Thursday, both sides said, as Washington hit out at Moscow’s lack of “flexibility”.
The US secretary of state said Lavrov shared new ideas on resolving the conflict, which he promised to present to US President Donald Trump, but played down the prospect of a breakthrough.
The pair met hours after Moscow pummeled Kyiv for a second straight night and as the United Nations said the number of victims from Russian attacks was at its highest level in three years.
Trump, who forced the warring countries to open negotiations for the first time in three years, this week accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of talking “bullshit” on Ukraine.
The US leader’s efforts to secure a ceasefire have failed to extract any concessions from the Kremlin, despite multiple calls with Putin.
Rubio told reporters Lavrov had floated something new on the conflict, but did not give details.
“It’s not a new approach. It’s a new idea or a new concept that I’ll take back to the president to discuss,” he said.
He added that it was not something that “automatically leads to peace, but it could potentially open the door to a path.”
The US diplomat said he had also conveyed Trump’s anger that the more than three-year war, triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion, was still ongoing, criticizing Moscow’s lack of “flexibility”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the United States would deliver more weapons to Kyiv and that he had “specific dates” on when they would arrive, in response to an AFP question.
Zelensky said in an X post that Ukraine was “ready” for different approaches to “scale up protection”, including by “purchasing a large defense package from the United States, jointly with Europe”.
Trump seemed to back up such an agreement. In an interview with American broadcaster NBC late on Thursday, he said Nato was “paying” the United States for weapons to send to Ukraine.
“We’re sending weapons to Nato, and Nato is paying for those weapons, 100%. And then Nato is going to be giving those weapons (to Ukraine),” Trump said.
Trump also said he would make a “major statement… on Russia” on Monday.
Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said he had spoken with Trump and was “working closely with allies to get Ukraine the help they need.”
The leaders of Britain and France, meanwhile, announced they had prepared plans for a peacekeeping force to be deployed to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
Ukraine said that two people — a 22-year-old policewoman on duty at a metro station and a 68-year-old woman — were killed in the latest assault on the capital.
Police described Maria Dziumaga as a “kind, cheerful, sincere, responsible, and dedicated police officer” who had joined in 2023.