Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky accuses Moscow of exploiting US proposal to halt strikes after latest attack

The work of Ukraine’s negotiating team will be adjusted after Russia’s overnight attack on Ukrainian energy facilities, which involved a record number of ballistic missiles, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.

“It was a deliberate attack against energy infrastructure, involving a record number of ballistic missiles,” Mr Zelensky said.

“The Russian army exploited the US proposal to briefly halt strikes not to support diplomacy, but to stockpile missiles and wait until the coldest days of the year, when temperatures across large parts of Ukraine drop below -20°C (-4°F).”

The next round of peace talks with Russian and US officials is due to start on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi.

Donald Trump has said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “kept his word” and obeyed his request for a temporary pause on attacks against major Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure.

“(The pause) was for Sunday to Sunday,” the US president said, speaking to reporters at the White House yesterday. “It opened up and (Putin) hit them hard… He kept his word on that. One week is a lot — we will take anything,” he said.

Asked if he was disappointed, Trump replied: “I want him to end the war”.

Trump was responding to a question about Russia’s attack on Ukraine yesterday which knocked out heating in cities, including the capital Kyiv, during freezing temperatures, even as Ukrainian negotiators headed to Abu Dhabi for a second round of US-brokered trilateral talks set for Wednesday and Thursday.

President Donald Trump has said his latest trade deal signed with India will end the war in Ukraine as Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has agreed to stop buying Russian oil.

The US president said that he plans to lower tariff on goods from India to 18 per cent from 25 per cent in a breakthrough deal, months after Washington pressed New Delhi to cut its reliance on cheap Russian crude.

Trump said that India would also start to reduce its import taxes on US goods to zero and buy $500bn worth of American products.

“This will help END THE WAR in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week!” Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the tariff reduction on India.

India has taken advantage of reduced Russian oil prices as much of the world has sought to isolate Moscow for its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

We heard earlier from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who discussed the possibility of a nuclear arms deal between Russia and the US expiring this week.

Abandoning limits on the strategic nuclear arsenals of Russia and the US would be very bad for global security, he said.

The New START nuclear treaty between the two countries expires on Thursday.

Peskov said Moscow’s proposal to keep observing the treaty’s limits on missiles, launchers and warheads for another year was still on the table, but the US had yet to respond to it.

The Kremlin has welcomed remarks by Fifa president Gianni Infantino who said Russia’s four-year ban from international soccer tournaments should be lifted after it has “achieved nothing”.

Russian clubs and the national team have been suspended from Fifa and Uefa competitions since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.

Asked about Infantino’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they were “very good” and that it had been a mistake to politicise sport.

Peskov said that Russia’s soccer team should now have its rights to compete completely restored.

Russia is ready for the new reality of a world with no nuclear arms control limits after the New START treaty expires later this week, Russia’s point man for arms control said on Tuesday.

The Trump administration has been urged, including former president Barack Obama, to ensure the treaty is not allowed to expire.

Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov also said that if the US pumped lots of missile defence systems onto Greenland, then Russia would have to take compensatory measures in its military sphere.

An 85-year-old woman has been killed and five others injured in Russian strikes on the city of Kharkiv and its surrounding villages in the past 24 hours, the chief of the region’s military administration has said.

Among the injured were two women aged 79 and 61, and three men aged 67, 58 and 22, Oleh Syniehubov said.

Russian forces used drones to attack the Slobidskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, Osnovianskyi, Saltivskyi and Kholodnohirskyi districts of Kharkiv, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

The region’s energy infrastructure was also targeted in the attack.

We earlier heard from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who said Moscow has heard no statements from India about halting purchases of Russian oil – and that Moscow intended to develop its strategic partnership with New Delhi.

Donald Trump announced a trade deal with India that slashes US tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent from 50 per cent in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia valued its relationship with India and would continue to develop its strategic partnership.

“So far, we have not heard any statements from Delhi on this issue. We respect bilateral US-Indian relations,” Peskov told reporters.

“But we attach no less importance to the development of an advanced strategic partnership between Russia and India. This is the most important thing for us and we intend to further develop our bilateral relations with Delhi.”