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.
Dmytro Kuleba before a press conference on Sept. 2, Zaporizhzhia, south-eastern Ukraine (Dmytro Smolienko / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba submitted his letter of resignation, speaker of Ukraine's parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk reported on Sept. 4.
Stefanchuk said that Kuleba's potential resignation will be "considered at one of the upcoming plenary meetings" but did not provide a date.
"It is a big reshuffle. It was expected rather long ago," lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko told the Kyiv Independent.
"Ahead of us difficult times, difficult autumn and winter. Perhaps this reshuffle is somehow related to the new period of challenges for Ukraine."
Serving as foreign minister since 2020, Kuleba has been at the forefront of Ukraine's efforts to engage its international allies and secure new partnerships since the beginning of the full-scale war.
"I work, no job is permanent, and I’m totally calm about everything," he said at the time. "I said at the very beginning that I would leave under two circumstances: the first is if the president asks me to do it. The second is if I get into some fundamental contradiction with foreign policy and don’t consider it possible to work with it," Kuleba added.
"I work, no job is permanent, and I’m totally calm about everything."
Ukrainska Pravda reported on Sept. 3, citing unnamed sources, that Kuleba would be dismissed, and that his replacement was still being considered. The most likely candidate to take the position would be Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, the sources said.
The news follows a number of other high-profile ministers submitting their letters of resignation the previous day — Strategic Industries Minister Alexander Kamyshin, Justice Minister Denys Maliuska, Ecology Minister Ruslan Strilets, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna, and Deputy Prime Minister and Reintegration Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
Vitalii Koval, head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU), also submitted his resignation nine months after being in office.
The reasons for the resignations were not specified. The news came after months of reports about the possible replacement of several Ukrainian ministers.
David Arakhamia, the head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People's party in parliament, said on Sept. 3 that the reshuffle would affect more than half of the government's staff.
"Tomorrow is the day of dismissals, and the day after that is the day of appointments," he added.
Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction Oleksandr Kubrakovand Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi were then dismissed in May.
Andrea Januta
