Moscow, Kyiv trade blame for strikes endangering truce efforts

Moscow, Kyiv trade blame for strikes endangering truce efforts

Zelensky is urging more pressure on Russia

Russia and Ukraine accused each other Wednesday of derailing a US-brokered deal that could see the warring countries halt attacks in the Black Sea and against energy sites.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced a barrage of more than 100 drones launched by Russia overnight, hours after Kyiv agreed to a framework for a halt in fighting in the strategic body of water.

The United States said on Tuesday that it had brokered the agreements in talks with both sides in Saudi Arabia, part of efforts by US President Donald Trump to quickly end Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which is now grinding through its fourth year.

But key questions over implementation remain. The Kremlin said the agreement to halt Black Sea strikes could come into force only after the lifting of restrictions on its agriculture sector.

Kyiv, which has voiced readiness to agree a complete 30-day ceasefire, said it came into effect when the US published details of the agreement late Tuesday.

"Launching such large-scale attacks after ceasefire negotiations is a clear signal to the whole world that Moscow is not going to pursue real peace," Zelensky posted on social media.

"There must also be clear pressure and strong action from the world on Russia –- more pressure, more sanctions from the United States –- to stop Russian strikes."

- 'Coalition' summit -

Zelensky arrived in Paris on Wednesday, a day before a summit of the so-called "coalition of the willing": a British-French led group of countries considering deploying troops to Ukraine to help enforce any ceasefire.

A senior aide to the Ukrainian leader told AFP the besieged country needed a "serious" contribution from Europe, not just peacekeepers.

"Every soldier has to be ready to be engaged in the real combat," said the aide, Igor Zhovkva, a top Ukrainian negotiator, ahead of Thursday's summit.

The European Union meanwhile said it would not lift its sanctions on Russia before the unconditional withdrawal of Moscow's forces.

The "unconditional withdrawal of all Russian military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine would be one of the main preconditions to amend or lift sanctions," said European Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper.

Russia launched 117 drones over Ukraine overnight, of which 56 were downed and 48 were lost from radar without causing damage, the Ukrainian air force said.

The attack damaged buildings in the central city of Kryvyi Rig -- Zelensky's hometown -- and in the border region of Sumy, Ukrainian officials said.

Russia meanwhile accused Ukraine of attacking its energy infrastructure overnight, which Kyiv denied.

President Vladimir Putin had ordered a 30-day truce on such targets last week, but Kyiv says Russian strikes on energy sites have continued unabated.

Ukraine fired drones at a "gas storage facility" in the annexed Crimean peninsula as well as a power installation in the Bryansk region, the Russian defence ministry said.

"The Kyiv regime, while continuing to damage Russia's civilian energy infrastructure, is actually doing everything it can to disrupt the Russian-American agreements," it wrote.

Moscow says the 30-day truce has been in effect since March 18, but the monitoring of it is unclear and both the United States and Russia have issued contradictory statements.

- 'Dragging their feet' -

The United States said Moscow and Kyiv had agreed only to "develop measures" towards an energy truce. A communications advisor for Zelensky said late Tuesday that Russian forces had struck Ukrainian energy sites eight times since Putin's order.

Trump's aim to speedily end the war has raised fears in Ukraine that it could be forced into ceding some of the 20 percent of its territory that Russia occupies, or that a US deal might not come with deterrents that would stop Russia from attacking again.

Zelensky and officials in Kyiv have claimed repeatedly that Moscow does not in fact want peace and is only seeking to continue advancing across the front line.

Trump conceded in an interview Tuesday that "it could be they're dragging their feet", referring to Russia, adding that: "I think Russia would like to see it end, and I think Zelensky would like to see it end at this point."

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Originally published as Moscow, Kyiv trade blame for strikes endangering truce efforts