Russia and Ukraine’s top diplomats on Saturday used a high-level conference in Turkey to once again trade accusations of violating a tentative U.S.-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, underscoring the challenges of negotiating an end to the 3-year-old war.
The two foreign ministers spoke at separate events at the annual Antalya Diplomacy Forum, a day after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss peace prospects. Ukraine’s European allies on Friday promised billions of dollars to help Kyiv keep fighting Russia’s invasion.
While Moscow and Kyiv both agreed in principle last month to implement a limited, 30-day ceasefire, they issued conflicting statements soon after their separate talks with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia. They differed on the start time of halting strikes, and alleged near-immediate breaches by the other side.
“The Ukrainians have been attacking us from the very beginning, every passing day, maybe with two or three exceptions,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, adding that Moscow would provide the U.S., Turkey and international bodies with a list of Kyiv’s attacks during the past three weeks.
A representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry separately told state media Saturday that Moscow has been sharing intelligence with the U.S. regarding more than 60 supposed breaches of the deal by Kyiv.
Trump says ‘Russia has to get moving’
Lavrov on Saturday insisted Russia had stuck to the terms of the deal.
His Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, fiercely contested that claim, saying Russia had launched “almost 70 missiles, over 2,200 (exploding) drones, and over 6,000 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine, mostly at civilians,” since agreeing to the limited pause on strikes.
“This clearly shows to the world who wants peace and who wants war,” he said.
Russian forces hold the advantage in Ukraine, and Kyiv has warned Moscow is planning a fresh spring offensive to ramp up pressure on its foe and improve its negotiating position.
Ukraine has endorsed a broader U.S. ceasefire proposal, but Russia has effectively blocked it by imposing far-reaching conditions. European governments have accused Putin of dragging his feet.
“Russia has to get moving” on the road to ending the war, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media Friday. He said the war is “terrible and senseless.”
Lavrov on Saturday reiterated that a prospective U.S.-backed agreement, also discussed in Saudi Arabia, to ensure safe navigation for commercial vessels in the Black Sea could not be implemented until restrictions are lifted on Russian access to shipping insurance, docking ports and international payment systems.
Details of the prospective deal were not released, but it appeared to mark another attempt to ensure safe Black Sea shipping after a 2022 agreement that was brokered by the U.N. and Turkey but halted by Russia the following year.
Ukraine reports death of F-16 pilot
Ukraine’s air force said a second F-16 fighter jet supplied by Western allies has been lost and its pilot, 26-year-old Pavlo Ivanov, killed.
Ukraine’s General Staff said the F-16 crashed while repelling a Russian missile strike. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday offered condolences to Ivanov’s family, saying, “We are proud of our soldiers. We will give a strong and apt response.”
Ukraine said the first F-16 was shot down last August, after it intercepted three Russian missiles and a drone.
Since last July, Ukraine has received multiple batches of the fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands, with U.S. approval. Their total number has not been disclosed.
Meanwhile, Russian drones killed at least two civilians in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region on Saturday, according to local Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin.
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