Strikes on Ukraine Continue as US Delegation Meets Putin

TaiwanPlus News

A US delegation has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending his country's war in Ukraine. But while a Kremlin aide says peace hasn't drifted further away from becoming reality, Russian attacks on Ukraine continue.

Transcript

00:00A Russian drone hits a residential building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk Tuesday.

00:14Rescuers will later find a woman's body among the rubble.

00:17It's another life lost in Russia's nearly four-year-long invasion of Ukraine.

00:22For people here, hope that peace will come soon.

00:25While around 800 kilometers away in Moscow, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff,

00:35and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have arrived for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin,

00:40part of months of efforts by the Trump administration to broker an end to the war.

00:45In the lead-up to the meeting, though, Putin's attention seemed to be fixed on war,

00:50warning Europe against getting involved in a conflict with Russia

00:53and reacting to Ukrainian attacks on Russian shipping.

00:59Firstly, we would extend the range of our strikes on vessels and boats entering Ukrainian ports.

01:04Secondly, if attacks on Russian tankers continue, we would consider the possibility,

01:09I'm not saying we will do it, but we would consider the possibility of retaliatory measures

01:14against vessels of those countries that help Ukraine carry out such pirate actions.

01:19The most radical solution is to cut Ukraine off from the sea, then piracy will be impossible for Ukraine in principle.

01:29Before the Moscow meeting, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, on a trip to Ireland,

01:34said he was somewhat optimistic, but is still skeptical about Putin's intentions.

01:39Putin, I mean, now he's thinking how to find new reasons not to finish this war.

01:46And we count on pressure from the United States.

01:49And they're people of the world. I think so. They're a very strong country.

01:52So pleased to see you.

01:54But on Tuesday, the long-awaited meeting took place over what a Kremlin aide said was five hours.

02:00He doesn't give much detail about what the two sides discussed, but he says one of the toughest issues,

02:07Russia's demands for Ukrainian territory, was one area the two sides still disagree on.

02:12Still, when a reporter asked whether peace was closer or further away, this is what he had to say.

02:18Not further. Not further. That's for sure.

02:22But there's still a lot of work to be done, both in Washington and in Moscow.

02:26That's about it. And contacts between Moscow and Washington will continue.

02:35But for people in Ukrainian cities like Kramatorsk, sight of Tuesday's drone strike,

02:39not further doesn't mean close.

02:42Russian attacks kept interrupting rescue efforts at the building hit earlier in the day.

02:46And as another round of talks about ending the war concludes, the war itself grinds on.

02:52Dolphine Chen and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.

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