"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.
The Council of Europe on May 14 approved the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia's top leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian lawmaker Maria Mezentseva reported.
An F-16 aircraft is pictured after the first delivery of Norway's old F-16 fighter aircraft to Romania at Rygge Air Force Base, Norway on Nov. 28, 2023. (Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)
The first of the long-awaited Western F-16 fighter jets pledged to Ukraine will arrive "in a few weeks," the Washington Post (WP) reported on July 28.
Kyiv has been calling for these U.S.-made fourth-generation jets since the very first year of the full-scale war in order to bolster its air force, which made up of Soviet-made aircraft and has been significantly depleted over the past years of war.
Despite promises by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on July 10 that the first Dutch and Danish F-16s are already on their way, no delivery has been confirmed so far.
The planes are likely to be used to strengthen Ukraine's air defense and shoot down missiles, drones, and aircraft, not to strike Russian ground forces and other targets near the front, WP wrote.
According to WP, the F-16s will not be brought close to the front line at first, so it is unclear whether they will be able to deter Russian planes flying in from Russian airspace.
Ukraine's F-16s will carry the advanced AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles, which are also used for NASAMS ground-based systems, WP reported, citing a Ukrainian defense official.
But Ukraine currently does not have enough of these missiles, so they will have to be split between the F-16 and NASAMS, according to the official cited.
A senior Ukrainian military official told WP that Russia is preparing for Ukraine to receive F-16s.
At the end of last year, Russia launched several missiles with dummy warheads from S-400 systems in Dzhankoy in occupied Crimea. The missiles reached the city of Kremenchuk in Poltava Oblast, which is located more than 320 kilometers away from the Ukrainian-Russian state border.
Moscow may try to use the S-400 to shoot down F-16s, according to a senior Ukrainian military official.
U.S. officials have previously said that the F-16s are unlikely to give Ukraine a decisive advantage because of Russia's powerful air defense. Ukrainian officials, in turn, said the West is delivering F-16s, like other equipment, in too few numbers and too late.
Chris York
