Extract from ABC News
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says there are still questions remaining over future security guarantees for Ukraine. (AP: Michael Probst)
In short:
A Ukrainian drone has struck Russia's port of Taman in the Black Sea, damaging an oil storage tank, warehouse and terminals.
Meanwhile, officials say falling debris from Russian drones have damaged civilian and transport infrastructure in Ukraine's Odesa region.
What's next?
US-brokered talks between envoys from Russia and Ukraine are set to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A Ukrainian drone strike has ignited fires at one of Russia's Black Sea ports, officials say, ahead of fresh talks aimed at ending the war.
Two people were wounded in the attack on the port of Taman in the Krasnodar region, which took place on Sunday, local time.
The strike resulted in damage to an oil storage tank, warehouse and terminals, according to regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev.
Meanwhile, falling debris from Russian drones damaged civilian and transport infrastructure in Ukraine's Odesa region, officials said, causing disruption to the power and water supply.
Ukraine's long-range drone strikes on Russian energy sites aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion.
Russia wants to hamstring the Ukrainian power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Kyiv officials have described as an attempt to "weaponise winter".
Russian drone attacks on Kyiv and Kharkiv after peace talks in January. (Reuters: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/File)
The attacks came ahead of another round of US-brokered talks between envoys from Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva, just before the fourth anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion on February 22.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Saturday, local time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested there were still questions remaining over future security guarantees for his country.
Ukrainian soldiers firing on Russian forces in the Donetsk region in January. (Reuters: Ukrainian Armed Forces/Oleg Petrasiuk/File)
Zelenskyy also questioned how the concept of a free trade zone, proposed by the US, would work in the Donbas region, which Russia has insisted Kyiv must give up for peace.
He said the Americans wanted peace as quickly as possible and that the US wanted to sign all the agreements on Ukraine at the same time, whereas Ukraine wanted guarantees for the country's future security signed first.
Previous US-led efforts to find consensus on ending the war, most recently two rounds of talks in Abu Dhabi, have failed to resolve difficult issues, such as the future of Ukraine's Donbas industrial heartland that is largely occupied by Russian forces.
AP
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