Ukraine accuses Russia of 'hollow' peace talks after school bombed, as Trump says mineral deal 'just about complete'
25 March 2025, 06:08
Ukraine has accused Russia of holding "hollow" peace talks with the US after the latest missile strike on civilians took place during the Kremlin's negotiations with the US.
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US and Russian negotiators met in Saudi Arabia on Monday to discuss a pause in the fighting, although no deal was announced. It came after Ukraine also met US officials in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
But Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of "making hollow statements about peace" after 88 people, including 17 children, were hurt in missile strikes on the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy. A school was among the facilities hit.
Kyiv and Moscow agreed in principle on Wednesday to a limited ceasefire after US President Donald Trump spoke with the countries' leaders, but the parties have offered different views of what targets would be off-limits to attack.
While the White House said "energy and infrastructure" would be covered, the Kremlin declared that the agreement referred more narrowly to "energy infrastructure".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he would also like to see railways and ports protected.
Talks on Monday addressed some of those differences, as well as a potential pause in attacks in the Black Sea to ensure the safety of commercial shipping.
In an exchange with reporters at the White House, Mr Trump said territorial lines and the potential for US ownership of a key nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine have been part of the talks.
Last week, Mr Trump floated the idea of the US taking control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
The six-reactor facility - one of the world's largest - was seized by Russia early in the war.
"Some people are saying the United States should own the power plant - work it that way because we have the expertise" to get the plant operating, Mr Trump said. "Something like that would be fine with me."
Since falling under Russian control, the plant's conditions have deteriorated. While its reactors have been shut down for years, they still require power and staff to maintain cooling systems and safety features. The facility is connected to Ukraine's energy grid without producing electricity.
Meanwhile the US president said that a deal that would give the US access to some of Ukraine's mineral resources in exchange for support from the White House was "just about completed".
We were just pouring money into Ukraine," he told reporters. "It’s a very unfair situation, so we made a deal on rare earths."
US and Russian representatives met in the morning in the Saudi capital, Russia's state Tass and Ria-Novosti news agencies reported.
The US and Ukrainian teams met on Sunday.
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Serhii Leshchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, said the delegation remained in Riyadh on Monday and expected to meet again with the Americans.
In his nightly address on Monday, Mr Zelenskyy said representatives from Ukraine and the US will meet again, although he did not specify when.
Grigory Karasin, head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian parliament's upper house and a participant in Monday's talks, told the Interfax news agency the negotiations were going on in a "creative way" and that the US and Russian delegations "understand each other's views".
Meanwhile, Russian troops launched a new barrage of drones, including decoys, into Ukraine overnight into Monday, according to Ukraine's air force, causing some damage and injuries.
Before the latest attack, Mr Zelenskyy said in a televised statement Sunday evening that "since March 11, a proposal for an unconditional ceasefire has been on the table, and these attacks could have already stopped. But it is Russia that continues all this".
He added that Ukraine's partners - "the US, Europe, and others around the world" - should step up pressure on Russia "to stop this terror".
Mr Zelenskyy has emphasized that Ukraine is open to a full, 30-day ceasefire that Mr Trump has proposed.
But Mr Putin has made a complete ceasefire conditional on a halt of arms supplies to Kyiv and a suspension of Ukraine's military mobilisation - demands rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies.
Speaking on Sunday, Mr Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said he expected "some real progress" at the talks in Saudi Arabia, and that a pause in hostilities between both countries in the Black Sea would "naturally gravitate into a full-on shooting ceasefire".
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Asked about reports speculating that China might send peacekeepers to Ukraine to enforce any future peace deal, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded on Monday with an unequivocal no.
"Let me stress that the report is completely false. China's position on the Ukraine crisis is clear and consistent," Mr Guo said at a daily briefing.
China has provided Russia with trade earnings from oil and other natural resources, along with diplomatic backing, but has not given any weapons or sent any personnel.
China is, however, on close terms with North Korea, which has sent troops to fight alongside the Russian army.
A "massive targeted cyberattack" hit Ukrainian state railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia on Sunday, the company wrote on Telegram, adding that the restoration of its systems was ongoing as of Monday morning.
The company said the attack did not affect train movements or schedules, but that the online booking system was currently unavailable.
"The railway continues to operate despite physical attacks on the infrastructure, and even the most vile cyberattacks cannot stop it," the company wrote.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces claimed to have destroyed four military helicopters in Russia's Belgorod region with the use of American-supplied Himars rocket systems.
The special forces published drone footage of what they said was the attack on their Telegram page on Monday.
The group wrote that the strikes had occurred at a concealed "jumping-off point" for Russian aircraft used in surprise attacks on Ukrainian forces.
Russian troops, meanwhile, fired 99 attack and decoy drones into Ukraine overnight Sunday, according to Ukraine's air force, of which 57 were shot down and 36 were lost from radar.
In the Kyiv region, one man suffered injuries overnight as a Russian drone struck a residential area.
"The man has superficial shrapnel wounds to his abdomen, chest, thighs, and head", the acting head of the Kyiv region, Mykola Kalashnyk, wrote on Telegram on Monday.
In the Kharkiv region, a Russian drone struck a residential building in the village of Velyka Babka, injuring a 25-year-old man and a pregnant woman.
Both were admitted to hospital, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram on Monday morning.
In Zaporizhzhia, Russian drones damaged several houses of local residents overnight with one elderly woman suffering light injuries, regional head Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram.
A Russian missile struck the northern city of Sumy, across the border from Russia's Kursk region, hitting residential buildings and a school, said regional head Volodymyr Artiukh.
Earlier, Russia fired 99 attack and decoy drones into Ukraine overnight, according to Ukraine's air force, of which 57 were shot down.
