International-News

War in Ukraine: continued attacks despite talks between Trump and Putin

Russia strikes again with drones and missiles: railway infrastructure damaged in Dnipropetrovsk. Washington and Moscow will resume talks in Jeddah on 23 March

Despite yesterday’s telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, during which a temporary halt to Russian attacks against Ukrainian energy infrastructure would be agreed, Russia continued to strike Ukraine with drones and ballistic missiles. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian drones damaged the electricity system that powers railways, causing partial outages, but no casualties, according to local authorities.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump denied rumours that Putin had asked Washington to stop supplying arms to Ukraine, which Russia considered a condition for a truce. ‘We never talked about military aid,’ Trump said during an interview with Fox News, stressing that the conversation with Putin, which lasted more than two hours, focused on peace-related issues.

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy for Russia, confirmed that negotiations between Washington and Moscow will resume on Sunday 23 March in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Witkoff expressed confidence in the possibility of a ceasefire agreement on attacks on energy infrastructure and in the Black Sea, saying that both sides seem to be in agreement.

Despite the diplomatic statements, the situation on the ground remains tense. Russian forces launched six ballistic missiles and 145 Shahed drones against Ukrainian territory, striking 12 regions, including Kiev, Odessa, Poltava and Chernihiv. In the attack on Kiev, 45 drones hit several areas, causing damage to infrastructure but with no reported casualties.

The Ukrainian army denied Putin’s claims that thousands of Kiev soldiers were encircled in Russia’s Kursk region. Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated that Ukrainian forces were ‘fighting in Kursk’ and that the operation would continue as long as it was deemed strategically useful.

On the diplomatic front, the German Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, criticised Russia, stating that attacks on civilian infrastructure have not diminished at all, despite the apparent intent to initiate a path to peace.

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