Ukraine to begin peace plan talks with US in Switzerland on Sunday

Ukraine will begin talks with the US on the 28-point peace plan suggested jointly by Russia and the US, on Sunday, in Geneva, according to Ukrainian officials who spoke on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg. National security advisors from France, Britain Germany and European Union officials will also be present.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday he had appointed a delegation to discuss with Washington the plan to halt Russia's war in Ukraine.

In a video, Zelenskyy said, "I have signed a decree on the composition of the Ukrainian delegation and approved all relevant directives." Adding, "Our representatives know how to protect Ukrainian national interests and exactly what is needed to prevent Russia from carrying out a third invasion, another strike against Ukraine."

According to Rustem Umerov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, Ukraine is entering the latest stage of talks with the United States a “clear understanding” of its national interests, Umerov said.

In a social media post on Facebook, Umerov wrote: “These days in Switzerland, we begin consultations between high officials of Ukraine and the United States on possible parameters of the future peace deal.”

On Saturday Zelenskyy alongside his wife attended a ceremony in Kyiv to commemorate the “great famine” that Soviet leader Josef Stalin imposed on Ukraine in the early 1930s, which led to millions of deaths. In a message on Telegram marking Holodomor Memorial Day, Zelenskyy adopted a defiant tone “We all know how and why millions of our people died, starved to death, and millions were never born. And we are once again defending ourselves against Russia, which has not changed and is once again bringing death".

Overnight attacks

Russia launched 104 drones in overnight attacks on Ukraine from Friday into Saturday, as well as a ballistic missile fired from the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea.

According to Ukraine's Armed Forces, 89 of the drones were either shot down or jammed; however, six locations were hit by drones and one by the missile.

One of the affected areas was the region of Odesa, which borders Romania, where at least two people were injured, according to Ukrainian officials.

Earlier this week, 26 people were killed and 93 were wounded after a Russian strike hit two apartment blocks in the city of Ternopil, marking the worst attack on the west since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.