“Everyone knows: This war was initiated by Russia alone. And today, it is clear that Russia alone chooses to continue it – with blatant disregard for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts” of US President Donald Trump, he wrote in a statement.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, two women, ages 62 and 68, and a 48-year-old man were killed in Russian attacks on the Kherson region, local Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. Another person was killed during Russian shelling on Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Governor Vadym Filashkin said.
Ukrainian servicemen carry a dead body from a trolleybus after a Russian missile strike on Sumy on Palm Sunday.Credit: AP
The mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said a Russian strike hit one of the city’s kindergartens, shattering windows and damaging the building’s facade. No casualties were reported.
Spring offensive fears despite peace talks
The strikes came a day after Russia and Ukraine’s senior diplomats accused each other of violating a tentative US-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, underscoring the challenges of negotiating an end to the three-year war.
The two countries’ foreign ministers spoke at separate events at the annual Antalya Diplomacy Forum a day after US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss peace prospects.
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“The Ukrainians have been attacking us from the very beginning, every passing day, maybe with two or three exceptions,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, adding that Moscow would provide the US, Turkey and international bodies with a list of Kyiv’s attacks during the past three weeks.
His Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, contested that claim, saying at the weekend that Russia had launched almost 70 missiles, more than 2200 exploding drones and more than 6000 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine, “mostly at civilians” since agreeing to the limited pause on strikes.
Russian forces hold the advantage in the war, and Kyiv has warned that Moscow is planning a fresh northern spring offensive to ramp up pressure on its foe and improve its negotiating position.
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Ukraine has endorsed a broader US ceasefire proposal, but Russia has effectively blocked it by imposing far-reaching conditions. European governments have accused Putin of dragging his feet.
Retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said the Sumy attack crossed “any line of decency” and that the White House remained committed to ending the conflict.
“There are scores of civilian dead and wounded. As a former military leader, I understand targeting, and this is wrong,” he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the attack “horrifying” and said it offered “a tragic reminder” of why the administration was trying to end the war in favour of “a just and durable peace.”
AP
