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.
Russian forces were planning to place an anti-aircraft missile system on the Sergey Kotov patrol vessel, reportedly destroyed on March 5, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) spokesperson Andrii Yusov told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
The military intelligence agency confirmed earlier today that the Project 22160 patrol ship was hit by Ukrainian Magura V5 naval drones off the coast of occupied Crimea. The Russian Defense Ministry is yet to comment on the incident.
"This is a new ship worth more than $60 million. Ships of this type entered the service in 2017, and the enemy had plans for them," Yusov said.
"In addition to serving as a patrol boat, there were plans to place anti-aircraft systems on the ship itself," he added.
Regarding the vessel's crew, Yusov said, "There are killed and wounded, but there is a possibility that some of the crew managed to evacuate."
In total, Russia's Black Sea Fleet had four vessels of this design, which the Ukrainian Navy calls "the most modern:" Vasily Bykov, Pavel Derzhavin, Sergey Kotov, and Dmitry Rogachev. Only the latter has not been attacked during the all-out war.
Sergey Kotov has already reportedly been hit by naval drones along with another patrol ship, the Vasiliy Bykov, in September 2023. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed at the time that the vessels managed to repel the attack.
"The fewer such ships (there are), the fewer air defense systems can be placed on them, presenting more opportunities for Ukrainian forces," Yusov said.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Kateryna Denisova
