Ukraine launched on Tuesday its largest ever drone attack on Russia as Kyiv officials head to Saudi Arabia to engage with U.S. counterparts on talks aimed at ending the war. The barrage also comes after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Ukraine must give up territory seized by Russia since 2014 in order for the conflict to end.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it shot down over 300 Ukrainian drones, 91 of which in the Moscow region. Two people were killed and 18 were injured as a result of the attack, which also caused large disruptions to air and rail travel, NBC News reported. Kyiv, on its end, said it downed 114 drones.
Fire exchanges continue as attention focuses on Jeddah, where Ukrainian officials are expected to propose a limited ceasefire as an initial step. Officials told press on Monday that the proposal would cover the Black Sea and long-range missile strikes, as well as the release of prisoners.
Marco Rubio and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are already in Saudi Arabia but have not met. Zelensky did meet with Saudi's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, saying afterwards that they "had a detailed discussion on the steps and conditions needed to end the war and secure a reliable and lasting peace."
Rubio also met with the Saudi crown prince, but the statements that grabbed headlines took place before, when he said concessions by Ukraine are "the only way" to end the war. "They've suffered greatly and their people have suffered greatly, and it's hard in the aftermath of something like that to even talk about concessions," but "that's the only way this is going to end to prevent more suffering," Rubio said.
The Secretary of State anticipated that what Kyiv is "willing to do in order to achieve peace" may be "incompatible with what the Russians are willing to do," but that talks are aimed at finding that out.
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Western Security officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin has no intention of compromising on land, peacekeepers and Ukrainian neutrality demands, potentially complicating any positive outcome.
The officials added that the "maximalist" demands will likely be unacceptable to Ukrainians and other Europeans and Putin knows it, and he is prepared to continue the war in that scenario.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the report, saying "Russia is open for peace efforts, for peace settlement around Ukraine, and we actually prefer to reach our goals through peaceful and diplomatic means." "If today and tomorrow shows that Ukraine is ready for negotiations, it will be a different story."
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