European and U.S. officials, including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, reportedly convinced Zelensky that attending the peace talks would reflect positively on Kyiv, diplomats told the Washington Post.
"We discussed in detail the logic of further steps and shared our approaches... It is critical that Russia reciprocate Ukraine's constructive steps. So far, it has not. Moscow must understand that rejecting peace comes at a cost," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.
"I am waiting to see who will come from Russia, and then I will decide which steps Ukraine should take. So far, the signals from them in the media are unconvincing," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The air raid was announced at around 2:30 p.m. local time, while the explosion sounded around 2:50 p.m. The number of victims killed rose to three, Sumy Oblast Governor Oleh Hryhorov reported at 8:42 p.m.
If confirmed, the decision would mark the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion that President Volodymyr Zelensky is absent, either physically or virtually, from a NATO summit.
The disclosure follows a warning from Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who on May 6 said Moscow was carrying out an "unprecedented" interference campaign.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva claimed that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had appealed to his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, to ask Putin if he was willing to conclude a peace agreement.
Earlier reporting from the Washington Post cited a former Russian official who claimed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, would represent Moscow in the talks.
Screenshot of the video of the attack on the Russian patrol ship Sergey Kotov, published by Ukraine's military intelligence agency on March 5, 2024. (HUR/Telegram)
In a conversation allegedly intercepted by Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), a Russian commander claimed that the Russian Sergey Kotov patrol ship, reportedly destroyed near occupied Crimea on March 5, had a helicopter on board.
The military intelligence agency confirmed earlier today that the Project 22160 patrol ship was destroyed in the Kerch Strait after being hit by Ukrainian Magura V5 naval drones. The Russian Defense Ministry is yet to comment on the incident.
Later the same day, the military intelligence agency published an intercepted call in which the alleged Russian commander of the 184th Water District Protection Brigade in Novorossiysk claimed that the vessel was attacked by five unmanned naval vehicles.
"There was a helicopter (on board), a ship with weapons, AK-176 (naval gun)," the audio said.
Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing unnamed sources, that a Russian Ka-29 transport and combat helicopter was destroyed along with the patrol ship.
Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk also said on national television that there might have been a helicopter on board, adding that the data on losses is being clarified.
Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) spokesperson Andrii Yusov said that "there are killed and wounded, but there is a possibility that some of the crew managed to evacuate."
Russian forces were also planning to place an anti-aircraft missile system on the Sergey Kotov patrol vessel, according to Yusov.
Sergey Kotov is one of a number of Russian ships reported to have been damaged by Ukrainian forces. On Feb. 14, the Russian Ropucha-class landing ship Caesar Kunikov was sunk in the Black Sea after being attacked by Ukrainian naval drones.
Ukraine has repeatedly struck Russia's Black Sea Fleet since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, including the sinking of the flagship cruiser Moskva in April 2022 and a devastating missile attack on the fleet's headquarters in occupied Crimea that reportedly killed more than 30 officers.
Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years, covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics. Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany.
