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.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hold a news conference at an army camp on Feb. 8, 2023, in Dorset, England. (Photo Peter Nicholls-WPA Pool/Getty Images)
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Feb. 8 that "nothing is off the table" in terms of military aid to Ukraine, including fighter jets.
Appearing with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Dorset, Sunak said that "when it comes to fighter combat aircraft, of course they are part of the conversation."
Earlier on Feb. 8, Sunak's spokesperson told the media that Sunak asked British Defense Minister Ben Wallace to look into which planes the U.K. can send to Ukraine.
The move is a departure from earlier statements by the British government that sending combat aircraft to Ukraine would not be practical, as they are extremely complicated pieces of equipment that take months to learn to fly.
Sunak added that the U.K. would deploy the promised Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine by March.
Zelensky made a surprise visit to London, where he met with the heads of state, as well as King Charles III, on Feb. 8.
In his speech to the British parliament, Zelensky asked for planes, in order to be able to resist and overcome Russia.
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