Russia accused Ukraine of launching drone attacks that sparked a fire at a nuclear power plant in its western Kursk region overnight Sunday.
Ukraine on Sunday marked 34 years since its independence, as Russia accused the country of launching drone attacks that sparked a fire at a nuclear power plant in its western Kursk region overnight.
The weekend’s developments come as U.S. Vice President JD Vance said in an interview that he believes «the Russians have made significant concessions to President Trump for the first time in three and a half years of this conflict.»
«They’ve actually been willing to be flexible on some of their core demands», Vance said in an interview with NBC’s «Meet the Press» that aired Sunday. «They’ve talked about what would be necessary to end the war. Of course, they haven’t been completely there yet, or the war would be over. But we’re engaging in this diplomatic process in good faith.»
President Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders last week at the White House, which Zelenskyy praised as «genuine unity.»
Vance, who was present at Monday’s meeting, told «Meet the Press» on Sunday that «we are trying to negotiate as much as we can with both the Russians and the Ukrainians to find a middle ground to stop the killing.»
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also appeared on «Meet the Press», saying there is no planned meeting between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
«Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskyy when the agenda would be ready for a summit, and this agenda is not ready at all», Lavrov said. Moscow accuses Ukraine of targeting power plant
Russian officials said several power and energy facilities were targeted in the overnight strikes. The fire at the nuclear facility was quickly extinguished with no injuries reported, according to the plant’s press service on Telegram. While the attack damaged a transformer, radiation levels remained within normal ranges.
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said it was aware of media reports that a transformer at the plant had caught fire «due to military activity», but hadn’t received independent confirmation.
