Russia resumes airstrikes on kyiv after three-day truce

Russia resumed its air attacks on kyiv on the night of Monday to Tuesday, killing at least two people and wounding seven, after a three-day suspension during an unprecedented visit by American emissaries. Loud explosions were heard early Tuesday in the Ukrainian capital by AFP journalists, who saw plumes of smoke as well as the glow of a fire.

The air missile alert, triggered during the night with orders to the population to reach shelters, was lifted in the early morning. The army of neighboring Poland had also put its air forces on alert. According to a provisional report from the local military administration, at least two people were killed and seven injured. Buildings were hit in several districts of the city and its suburbs, according to authorities.

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This Russian attack is the first targeting kyiv in three nights, after the expiration of a reciprocal truce announced by Moscow and kyiv during a visit by American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to these two cities. On Monday, Mr. Witkoff estimated that his tour allowed “substantial progress” towards the organization of tripartite talks to end the conflict triggered by the Russian invasion in February 2022. “President Trump is working hard to stop the killing and work towards lasting peace,” he assured on X.

“De-escalation”

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, cited by the American media Axios, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin signaled to the envoys that he was willing to begin negotiations with a view to “de-escalation” this winter. This could result in a suspension by both camps of strikes on strategic sectors. “There are ideas around energy, grain, electricity and around oil and gas,” Zelensky told Axios.

Mr. Putin “needs Trump” and does not want to “antagonize” him, especially before the American mid-term elections in early November, the Ukrainian president said in this interview. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with the Russian leader in Moscow on Saturday, then visited kyiv for the first time on Sunday, where they spoke with Mr. Zelensky.

European representatives - French, British and German - also took part in these negotiations on Sunday in kyiv. A senior Ukrainian presidential official told AFP that Donald Trump's emissaries had presented new "more effective" proposals to end the war, without further details at first.

“Still too early to talk about it”

On Monday, the Kremlin announced “not to rule out” a resumption of tripartite talks. However, the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, said that it was “still too early to talk about the precise location and dates”. During previous negotiations, Moscow and kyiv had generally remained on their positions, with discussions stalling in particular on the question of the territories in eastern Ukraine which Russia claims to annex.

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