KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks, and that the 20-point plan under discussion \u201cis about 90% ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An \u201ceconomic agreement\u201d also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm \u201cwhether anything will be finalized by the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues”, he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas \u2014 an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk \u2014 the two areas that make up the Donbas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine \u201cwould like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a \u201cgood conversation\u201d with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump\u2019s son-in-law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently\u00a0met with U.S. envoys\u00a0in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump is engaged in a\u00a0diplomatic push\u00a0to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply\u00a0conflicting demands\u00a0by Moscow and Kyiv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war, if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been \u201cslow but steady progress\u201d in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the ground, two people were killed and six more wounded Friday when a guided aerial bomb hit a busy road and set cars aflame in Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia\u2019s Rostov region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMultiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,\u201d it wrote on Telegram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s long-range drone strikes\u00a0on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the\u00a0oil export revenue\u00a0it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to\u00a0cripple the Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to \u201cweaponize winter.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"