Ukraine proposes fresh peace talks with Russia next week
"Security Council Secretary Umerov... reported that he had proposed the next meeting with the Russian side for next week," Zelensky said in his evening address. "The momentum of the negotiations must be stepped up," he added.
Zelensky reiterated his readiness to have a face-to-face sitdown with Putin. "A meeting at the leadership level is needed to truly ensure peace – lasting peace," he said.
At talks last month, Russia outlined a list of hardline demands, including calls for Ukraine to cede more territory and to reject all forms of Western military support.
Kyiv dismissed them as unacceptable and at the time questioned the point of further negotiations if Moscow was not willing to make concessions.
The Kremlin said earlier this month it was ready to continue talks with Ukraine after US President Donald Trump gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace deal or face sanctions.
Trump also pledged to supply Kyiv with new military aid, sponsored by NATO allies, as its cities suffer ever-increasing Russian aerial attacks.
Russian strikes kill three
Russia has escalated long-range aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities as well as frontline assaults and shelling over recent months, defying Trump's warning.
Most lately on Saturday, it had fired missile and drone strikes that killed three people across Ukraine.
Two people died after a Russian missile hit Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial hub, into which Russia's forces have recently advanced.
An earlier Russian salvo of 20 drones on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa killed at least one person overnight.
Russia had to suspend trains for about four hours overnight, causing extensive delays in the southern Rostov region, when it came under a Ukrainian drone attack that wounded one railway worker.
Moscow and Kyiv are menacing each other with swarms of cheap drones to overwhelm each other's air defence, as the warring sides said on Saturday they had intercepted hundreds of drones, now launched in large amounts almost daily.
As part of the Istanbul agreements, Kyiv received 1,000 soldiers' bodies on Thursday, while Russia said it had received 19 from Ukraine.
The European Union on Friday agreed an 18th package of sanctions on Moscow that targets Russian banks and lowers a price cap on oil exports, in a bid to curb its ability to fund the war.
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France 24
24 minutes ago
- France 24
Calm returns to south Syria after violence that killed 1,000: monitor
A ceasefire announced on Saturday appeared to be holding after earlier agreements failed to end fighting between longtime rivals the Druze and the Bedouin that spiralled to draw in the Islamist-led government, the Israeli military and armed tribes from other parts of Syria. AFP correspondents on the outskirts of Sweida city reported hearing no clashes on Sunday morning, with government forces deployed in some locations in the province to enforce the truce and at least one humanitarian convoy headed for the Druze-majority city. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that since around midnight (2100 GMT Saturday), "Sweida has been experiencing a cautious calm", adding government security forces had blocked roads leading to the province in order to prevent tribal fighters from going there. The Britain-based Observatory gave an updated toll on Sunday of more than 1,000 killed since the violence erupted a week ago, including 336 Druze fighters and 298 civilians from the minority group, as well as 342 government security personnel and 21 Sunni Bedouin. Witnesses, Druze factions and the Observatory have accused government forces of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses including summary executions when they entered Sweida days ago. Hanadi Obeid, a 39-year-old doctor, told AFP that "the city hasn't seen calm like this in a week". 'Totally calm' The interior ministry said overnight that Sweida city was "evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city's neighbourhoods were halted". The Observatory had said Druze fighters retook control of the city on Saturday evening. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa had on Saturday announced a fresh ceasefire in Sweida and renewed a pledge to protect Syria's ethnic and religious minorities in the face of the latest sectarian violence since Islamists overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December. A spokesman for Syria's tribal and clan council told Al Jazeera late Saturday that fighters had left the city "in response to the call of the presidency and the terms of the agreement". Another medic inside Sweida told AFP by telephone on Sunday that "the situation is totally calm... We aren't hearing clashes." "No medical or relief assistance has entered until now," the medic added, requesting anonymity due to the security situation. State news agency SANA published images showing medical aid being prepared near the health ministry in Damascus and quoted Health Minister Musab al-Ali as saying assistance would be delivered to Sweida's main hospital, where bodies have piled up. Inside the city, where around 150,000 people live, residents have been holed up in their homes without electricity and water, and food supplies have also been scarce. The United Nations migration agency said more than 128,000 people in Sweida province have been displaced by the violence. 'Brutal acts' US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said Sunday that the country stood at a "critical juncture", adding that "peace and dialogue must prevail -- and prevail now". "All factions must immediately lay down their arms, cease hostilities, and abandon cycles of tribal vengeance," he wrote on X, saying "brutal acts by warring factions on the ground undermine the government's authority and disrupt any semblance of order". Sharaa's announcement Saturday came hours after the United States said it had negotiated a ceasefire between Syria's government and Israel, which had bombed government forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier in the week. Israel, which has its own Druze community, has said it was acting in defence of the group, as well as to enforce its demands for the total demilitarisation of Syria's south. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday urged the Syrian government's security forces to prevent jihadists from entering and "carrying out massacres" in the south, and called on Damascus to "bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks".
France 24
18 hours ago
- France 24
Ukraine proposes fresh peace talks with Russia next week
Two rounds of talks in Istanbul between Moscow and Kyiv have failed to result in any progress towards a ceasefire, instead yielding large-scale prisoner exchanges and deals to return the bodies of killed soldiers. "Security Council Secretary Umerov... reported that he had proposed the next meeting with the Russian side for next week," Zelensky said in his evening address. "The momentum of the negotiations must be stepped up," he added. Zelensky reiterated his readiness to have a face-to-face sitdown with Putin. "A meeting at the leadership level is needed to truly ensure peace – lasting peace," he said. At talks last month, Russia outlined a list of hardline demands, including calls for Ukraine to cede more territory and to reject all forms of Western military support. Kyiv dismissed them as unacceptable and at the time questioned the point of further negotiations if Moscow was not willing to make concessions. The Kremlin said earlier this month it was ready to continue talks with Ukraine after US President Donald Trump gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace deal or face sanctions. Trump also pledged to supply Kyiv with new military aid, sponsored by NATO allies, as its cities suffer ever-increasing Russian aerial attacks. Russian strikes kill three Russia has escalated long-range aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities as well as frontline assaults and shelling over recent months, defying Trump's warning. Most lately on Saturday, it had fired missile and drone strikes that killed three people across Ukraine. Two people died after a Russian missile hit Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial hub, into which Russia's forces have recently advanced. An earlier Russian salvo of 20 drones on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa killed at least one person overnight. Russia had to suspend trains for about four hours overnight, causing extensive delays in the southern Rostov region, when it came under a Ukrainian drone attack that wounded one railway worker. Moscow and Kyiv are menacing each other with swarms of cheap drones to overwhelm each other's air defence, as the warring sides said on Saturday they had intercepted hundreds of drones, now launched in large amounts almost daily. As part of the Istanbul agreements, Kyiv received 1,000 soldiers' bodies on Thursday, while Russia said it had received 19 from Ukraine. The European Union on Friday agreed an 18th package of sanctions on Moscow that targets Russian banks and lowers a price cap on oil exports, in a bid to curb its ability to fund the war.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Clashes, homes torched in south Syria's Sweida despite ceasefire
Just hours earlier, Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa had announced an immediate ceasefire, but Bedouins and tribal fighters who are allied with the Syrian authorities pushed on in the west of the Druze-majority city. "Go forward, tribes!" said fighter Abu Jassem, addressing fellow combatants in the area, where the streets were largely deserted. "We will slaughter them in their homes," he said, referring to the Druze. The tribal fighters have converged on Sweida from other parts of Syria to support the Bedouins who have been clashing with Druze fighters since July 13. The violence has killed at least 940 people, according to a monitor. An AFP correspondent on Saturday saw dozens of torched homes and vehicles and armed men setting fire to shops after looting them. Some fighters, their faces covered, opened fire in the streets with automatic weapons while others moved around on vehicles and motorbikes. One fighter wore a black band around his head that bore the Islamic profession of faith. Another was carrying scissors, after footage in recent days showed fighters cutting the moustaches of Druze elderly and clergy, a grave insult to members of the minority community. The Druze, followers of an esoteric religion that split from Shiite Islam, are regarded at best with suspicion by more hard-line Sunni Islamists who count among the ranks of Syria's new authorities. 'Nothing left' In Sweida city, where around 150,000 people live, residents have been holed up in their homes without electricity and water. Food supplies are scarce despite repeated appeals for humanitarian assistance, and communications have largely been cut off. Near the city's main hospital, an AFP photographer said bloated bodies were being taken for burial in a nearby pit as the morgue was overflowing. A doctor had told AFP that the facility had received more than 400 bodies. Security forces on Saturday were deploying in the province with the stated aim of protecting civilians and ending the chaos. Near a village north of Sweida, an AFP correspondent saw government forces deploying at a checkpoint and seeking in vain to prevent armed tribal fighters from advancing. Interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba told AFP in the province's north that security forces were deploying "to protect public and private property and guarantee the security of civilians". Government forces were to "supervise the withdrawal of the tribes that were in battle with outlaw groups," he added, referring to Druze fighters. An AFP correspondent said some tribal fighters withdrew from the city on Saturday afternoon, and also reported armed men dragging bodies from a street. According to the United Nations, the fighting has displaced at least 87,000 people. One resident of the city who fled days earlier told AFP that "We have nothing left." "Most of the people we know -- our relatives and friends -- are dead," said the resident, requesting anonymity due to the security situation. "Sweida has been destroyed, and we are trying to keep our families away until this madness ends." strs-lar/lg/ami © 2025 AFP
