MOSCOW:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/russian-says-no-deadlines-to-end-ukraine-war" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Moscow</a>&nbsp;and Kyiv will each release a total of 500 prisoners of war over Thursday and Friday, Russia&#39;s top negotiator said, with the Russian defense ministry saying the first 200 on each side had already been swapped. &quot;There will be an exchange of prisoners of war with Ukraine. 500 for 500,&quot; Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky wrote on Telegram. He added that the swap was part of agreements reached at trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Geneva searching for an end to the conflict. The Russian defense ministry said the UAE and the United States helped mediate Thursday&#39;s exchange of 200 captured Russian soldiers for 200 captured Ukrainians. It added that the Russian servicemen were in <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/ski-body-blocks-russian-belarusian-athletes-from-2026-winter-olympics" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Belarus</a>, a close ally of Russia that neighbors Ukraine. Moscow and Kyiv have held several rounds of prisoner exchanges throughout the war, one of the rare areas of cooperation between the warring countries. The swaps are among the very few tangible results of the talks, being pushed and mediated by Washington, trying to broker a deal to end the war. Negotiations appeared to have stalled amid a lack of progress and since the eruption of war in the Middle East. Kyiv had said there had been a tentative plan to hold talks in Abu Dhabi this week - one of the places being hit by Iranian missiles and drones. <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-zelensky-speak-before-ukraineus-talks-in-geneva" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky</a> on Monday suggested holding the next meeting in Switzerland or Turkey, which both have hosted previous rounds talks, instead.

This handout photograph taken and released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine on March 5, 2026 shows buildings on fire following a Russian attack in the coast of Bilgorod-Dnistrovskyi district in Odesa region. (AFP)

Europe

The swap was part of agreements reached at trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Geneva searching for an end to the conflict.

Russia, Ukraine to exchange 500 POWs on March 5-6: negotiator

MOSCOW: Moscow is in no hurry to reach a deal to end the war in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested in comments to state media on Thursday.&nbsp;Negotiators from both countries were in Geneva on Thursday for separate talks with US officials, part of a fraught negotiation process being pushed by President Donald Trump in a bid to end the fighting.&nbsp;Several rounds of discussions have failed to clinch a deal, with Moscow insisting on hardline territorial and political demands that Kyiv has ruled out as tantamount to capitulation.&nbsp;Top officials in Russia on Thursday again&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/ukraine-marks-four-years-since-russian-invasion" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">pushed back</a>&nbsp;on the idea a deal was close.&nbsp;&quot;Have you heard anything from us about deadlines? We have no deadlines, we have tasks. We are getting them done,&quot; state news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying.&nbsp;Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said it was too early to make &quot;forecasts&quot; or say at what stage the peace process was at.&nbsp;&quot;It would be a big mistake to try right now to define some kind of stage or make some kind of forecasts. I don&#39;t want to make those mistakes,&quot; he told state media.&nbsp;Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly said a meeting with Russia&#39;s Vladimir Putin is needed to agree on the key sticking points, like the fate of territory in eastern Ukraine that Russia is fighting to seize control of.&nbsp;Peskov repeated on Thursday that Russia will not agree to a summit until the very end of talks, and only to sign off on a deal thrashed out between the negotiating teams.

Moscow signaled it is not rushing Ukraine deal, as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, while talks in Geneva with United States officials continue under Donald Trump’s push to end fighting.

Russian foreign minister says 'no deadlines' to end Ukraine war

KYIV: Vladimir Putin has not broken Ukraine, its leader Volodymyr&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/zelensky-says-europe-fragmented-looks-lost-facing-trump" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Zelensky</a>&nbsp;said Tuesday, as the Kremlin marked the fourth year of its invasion by vowing that it will keep fighting Europe&#39;s bloodiest conflict since World War II until it achieves its goals. Moscow had hoped to take Kyiv in days when it launched its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/ukraine-marks-four-years-since-russian-invasion" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">invasion</a>&nbsp;on February 24, 2022. Four years later &mdash; with hundreds of thousands dead, millions forced to flee, much of eastern Ukraine destroyed and US-led peace talks still deadlocked over territory &mdash; it conceded that it has not achieved all it wants in the country. &quot;The goals haven&#39;t been fully achieved yet, which is why the military operation continues,&quot; Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to an AFP question. Ukraine, meanwhile, was ready to do &quot;everything&quot; it could to secure peace, Zelensky said in a video address that featured images of Ukrainians carrying out acts of resistance against Russian soldiers in the opening days of the conflict. But any settlement must not &quot;betray&quot; the price paid by Ukrainians throughout the conflict, he said. &quot;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/putin-says-developing-russias-nuclear-forces-absolute-priority" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Putin</a>&nbsp;has not achieved his goals. He did not break the Ukrainians. He did not win this war. We have preserved Ukraine, and we will do everything to achieve peace -- and to ensure there is justice,&quot; Zelensky said. &quot;We want peace. Strong, dignified, and lasting peace,&quot; he said, adding that any agreement &quot;must not simply be signed, it must be accepted by Ukrainians&quot;. &quot;Everything Ukraine has gone through. It must not be surrendered, forgotten, or betrayed,&quot; he added. In a later video address to the European Parliament, Zelensky urged Brussels to set out a clear timeline for his country&#39;s accession to the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/pakistan-urges-diplomacy-warns-of-disinformation-risks-at-un-meeting-on-ukraine" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">bloc</a>. Several European leaders including Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson visited Kyiv on Tuesday to mark the anniversary. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen was also there, reaffirming that Europe stood &quot;unwaveringly with Ukraine, financially, militarily, and through this harsh winter.&quot; Zelensky was also hosting a video-conference with Kyiv&#39;s top allies, including Britain, France and Germany, to push for more support to deter the Russian invasion. In the suburb of Irpin -- where the bodies of hundreds of civilians were discovered in 2022 after it and the neighbouring suburb of Bucha were occupied by Russian forces -- kindergarten manager Olena Ponomariova said Ukrainians had become united and more resilient. But she &quot;can&#39;t say&quot; what victory would look like, she told AFP, adding: &quot;I don&#39;t know if that will happen, but let&#39;s hope it will.&quot; Territory dispute The United States has been pushing to end the conflict, mediating talks between the two sides this year in Geneva and Abu Dhabi, but they remain at odds over the issue of territory. Russia, which occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine, is fighting to gain full control of Ukraine&#39;s eastern Donetsk region as part of any deal. It has threatened to take it by force if Kyiv does not cave at the negotiating table. Ukraine has rejected the demand and said it would not sign a deal without security guarantees from allies &mdash; including the US &mdash; to deter Russia from invading again. Despite heavy losses, Russian troops have in recent months advanced on the front line, particularly in the eastern Donbas region, which Moscow wants to annex. The <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/russian-missile-barrage-hits-energy-railways-across-ukraine" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Russian army</a> seized more territory during the fourth year of the Ukraine war than in the preceding two years combined, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Since February 24, 2025 &mdash; the third anniversary of Russia&#39;s invasion &mdash; Moscow&#39;s troops have taken 4,524 square kilometres, an area slightly larger than the US state of Rhode Island. That is according to data from the ISW, which works with the Critical Threats Project (part of the American Enterprise Institute, or AEI), another US think-tank specializing in conflict. The grinding four-year war has devastated Ukraine, which even before the fighting was one of the poorest countries in Europe. The cost of post-war reconstruction is estimated at around $588 billion over the next decade, according to a joint World Bank, EU and UN report with Kyiv, published on Monday. Russia cast its decision to send troops into Ukraine as a defensive move to halt Ukraine&#39;s ambition to join NATO. Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, considers the war to be a resurgence of Russian imperialism aimed at subjugating the Ukrainian people.

A woman holding flowers pays her respect at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine in Kyiv on February 24, 2026, as Ukraine marks the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion. (AFP)

Asia

Ukraine marks four years of war as Zelensky vows peace, Russia presses territorial gains, while European leaders visit Kyiv and reconstruction costs are estimated at $588 billion, according to ISW and UN reports.

Zelensky says Ukraine unbroken after 4 years, but Russia vows to fight on

KYIV: Ukraine was on Tuesday marking the fourth anniversary of Russia&#39;s full-scale invasion, with a show of solidarity from its staunchest allies and no immediate end in sight to Europe&#39;s bloodiest conflict since World War II. Tens of thousands of lives have been lost since the Kremlin ordered troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, confident of a quick victory but not expecting the fierce resistance that followed. The worldwide fallout of the war has been immense, with many European countries increasing their own defense spending in anticipation of a possible confrontation of their own with Russia. But diplomatic talks between the two sides, relaunched last year by the United States, have so far failed to halt the fighting, which has devastated Ukraine and left it facing the mammoth task &mdash; and bill &mdash; of reconstruction. Tuesday&#39;s anniversary is expected to see the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, in Kyiv to mark the occasion. Both said they would take part in a &quot;commemoration ceremony&quot; and visit the site of a Ukrainian energy facility damaged by Russian strikes before attending a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky. They are also due to take part in a videoconference meeting with Kyiv&#39;s allies &mdash; the so-called &quot;Coalition of the Willing&quot; which includes Britain, France and Germany. Impasse Russia, which currently occupies nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory, bombs civilian areas and infrastructure on a daily basis. The Russian bombardment has sparked the worst energy crisis since the start of the invasion, during a bitter winter. Kyiv&#39;s Western allies have slapped heavy sanctions on Moscow, forcing it to redirect its key oil exports towards new markets, particularly in Asia. Despite heavy losses, Russian troops have in recent months advanced slowly on the frontline, particularly in the eastern Donbas region, which has been the epicenter of the bloody fighting and which Moscow wants to annex. US-brokered talks are ongoing, with Zelensky unwavering in his demands for security guarantees from Washington before any talk of &quot;compromise,&quot; including on territory, with Russia. Russia, though, has rejected Ukrainian proposals for the deployment of European troops in Ukraine after any ceasefire deal. President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that he will pursue his objectives by force if diplomacy fails.&nbsp;Reconstruction The grinding four-year war has devastated Ukraine, which, even before the fighting, was one of the poorest countries in Europe. According to a joint World Bank, European Union, and United Nations report with Kyiv, published on Monday, the cost of post-war reconstruction is estimated at around $558 billion over the next decade. Russia justified sending troops into Ukraine to prevent Ukraine&#39;s ambition to join NATO, arguing that Kyiv&#39;s membership of the transatlantic alliance would threaten its own security. On Monday, during a medal ceremony to mark &quot;Defenders of the Fatherland Day,&quot; Putin insisted that his soldiers were defending Russia&#39;s &quot;borders&quot; in Ukraine, to ensure &quot;strategic parity&quot; between powers and fight for the country&#39;s &quot;future.&quot; Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, for its part, considers the war to be a resurgence of Russian imperialism aimed at subjugating the Ukrainian people. In an interview with the BBC broadcast on Sunday, Zelensky said he believed Putin had &quot;already started&quot; World War III. &quot;Russia wants to impose on the world a different way of life and change the lives people have chosen for themselves,&quot; he told the British public broadcaster.

Tens of thousands of lives have been lost since the Kremlin ordered troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, confident of a quick victory but not expecting the fierce resistance that followed.

Ukraine marks four years since Russian invasion

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that developing Russia&#39;s nuclear forces was now an &quot;absolute priority&quot; following the expiry of its last remaining nuclear treaty with the US. &quot;The development of the nuclear triad, which guarantees Russia&#39;s security and ensures effective strategic deterrence and a balance of forces in the world, remains an absolute priority,&quot; Putin said in a video message. His speech came on Russia&#39;s &quot;Defender of the Fatherland Day,&quot; a holiday that is an occasion for military pomp and Kremlin-sponsored patriotism. Putin vowed to keep &quot;strengthening the army and navy&quot; and draw on military experience from the nearly four-year conflict in Ukraine. All branches of the armed forces would be improved, he said, including their &quot;combat readiness, their mobility, and their ability to operate in all conditions, even the most difficult.&quot; Putin&#39;s remarks came just two days before the fourth anniversary of Russia&#39;s assault on Ukraine that sparked a war that has shattered towns, uprooted millions, and killed large numbers on both sides. Moscow and Washington &mdash; the world&#39;s two main nuclear powers &mdash; are no longer bound by any arms control pact since the New START agreement expired earlier this month. But Russia said it would continue taking a &quot;responsible&quot; approach to strategic nuclear capability and respecting the limits set on its arsenal.

Putin vows to keep "strengthening the army and navy" and draw on military experience from the nearly four-year conflict in Ukraine, says all branches of the armed forces will be improved, including their "combat readiness, their mobility, and their ability to operate in all conditions, even the most difficult."



Putin says developing Russia's nuclear forces 'absolute priority'

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday called for an early end to the Ukraine conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, while warning that disinformation and emerging technologies were increasingly shaping modern conflicts. Speaking at an Arria-formula meeting of the United Nations Security Council organized by Russia on the information dimension of the Ukraine crisis, Pakistani Counsellor Kamran Taj said continued hostilities were having a disproportionate impact on civilians, according to the statement. He reiterated Pakistan&rsquo;s longstanding position that the conflict should be resolved through peaceful means, calling for a &ldquo;just and lasting settlement&rdquo; consistent with the UN Charter and international law and acceptable to all parties involved, said the statement. Taj said the growing role of information in global affairs had become increasingly complex, warning that disinformation campaigns were being used to manipulate public opinion and mislead policymakers, undermining trust and deepening polarization worldwide, as per the statement. He cautioned that the weaponization of narratives, where facts and fabricated content are blurred, posed risks to international discourse and stability. &quot;The disingenuous use of information&mdash;blurring the lines between fact and fabrication&mdash;continues to erode trust and deepen polarization across the globe,&quot; it added. Pakistan, he said, had itself been targeted by coordinated disinformation campaigns in the past, citing investigative findings by the EU DisinfoLab in 2020, the statement added. He warned that emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and deepfake tools were amplifying the spread of false information by enabling the creation of highly realistic but fabricated content. Such developments, he said, risk inflaming tensions, misleading the public, and destabilizing regions, urging the international community to develop collective mechanisms to detect and counter technologically enhanced disinformation, it added. Arria-formula meetings are informal sessions of the Security Council that allow member states to discuss specific issues outside the Council&rsquo;s formal decision-making framework.&nbsp;

Foreign Affairs

Security

Pakistan urges diplomacy to end the Ukraine conflict at a UN meeting, warning that disinformation and AI-driven deepfakes increasingly manipulate narratives, undermine trust, and destabilize global security

Pakistan urges diplomacy, warns of disinformation risks at UN meeting on Ukraine

GENEVA: US envoy Steve Witkoff said Wednesday that talks between Ukraine and Russia had &quot;brought about meaningful progress&quot; in the Washington-led drive to end the war in Ukraine, as both sides were set to begin a second day of negotiations in Geneva. &quot;President Trump&#39;s success in bringing both sides of this war together has brought about meaningful progress, and we are proud to work under his leadership to stop the killing in this terrible conflict. Both parties agreed to update their respective leaders and continue working towards a deal,&quot; he wrote on X.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 644px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2023969047730180230&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2Fnew%2F&sessionId=c4aff7d45fa999c492b8c3fc05352fa678a38b55&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" data-tweet-id="2023969047730180230"></iframe></div>The two sides <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/moscow-kyiv-meet-for-usbrokered-talks-after-fresh-attacks" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">resumed </a>a second round of US-mediated peace talks in Geneva on Wednesday, though neither side signaled they were any closer to ending Europe&#39;s deadliest conflict since World War II. The talks are the latest diplomatic bid to halt the fighting, which has left hundreds of thousands killed, millions forced to flee, and much of eastern and southern Ukraine decimated. The United States has been pushing for an end to the nearly four-year war, but has failed to broker a compromise between Moscow and Kyiv on the key issue of territory. Two previous rounds of negotiation between the two sides in Abu Dhabi failed to yield a breakthrough. The latest talks &quot;were very tense,&quot; a source close to the Russian delegation told AFP. &quot;They lasted six hours. They have now concluded,&quot; the source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address that he was ready &quot;to move quickly towards a worthy agreement to end the war,&quot; but questioned whether Russia was <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/russia-disregards-peace-efforts-with-overnight-attack-before-talks-ukraine-fm" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">serious about peace</a>. &quot;What do they want?&quot; he added, accusing them of prioritizing missile strikes over &quot;real diplomacy.&quot; Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with the ensuing conflict resulting in a tidal wave of destruction that has left entire cities in ruins. &#39;Come to the table, fast&#39;Zelensky has repeatedly said his country is being asked to make disproportionate compromises compared to Russia. US President Donald Trump put pressure on Ukraine on Monday to make a deal, saying they &quot;better come to the table, fast.&quot; Zelensky told Axios on Tuesday it was &quot;not fair&quot; that Trump kept calling on Ukraine to broker a deal, adding that lasting peace would not be achieved if &quot;victory&quot; was just handed to Russia. &quot;I hope it is just his tactics and not the decision,&quot; Zelensky said. Russia occupies around one-fifth of Ukraine &mdash; including the Crimean peninsula it seized in 2014 &mdash; and areas that Moscow-backed separatists had taken before the 2022 invasion. It is pushing for full control of Ukraine&#39;s eastern Donetsk region as part of any deal, and has threatened to take it by force if talks fail. But Kyiv has rejected this deeply unpopular demand, which would be politically and militarily fraught, and signaled it will not sign a deal without security guarantees that deter Russia from invading again. Russia has been slowly seizing territory across the sprawling front line for months. But its wartime economic worries are mounting, with growth stagnating and a ballooning budget deficit as oil revenues &mdash; choked by sanctions &mdash; drop to a five-year low. Ukrainian forces recently made their fastest gains in two-and-a-half years, recapturing 201 square kilometers (78 square miles) last week, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War. That total includes areas Kyiv and military analysts say are controlled by Russia (72 square kilometers), as well as those claimed by Moscow&#39;s army (129 square kilometers). The counterattacks likely leveraged the disruption of Russian forces&#39; access to Starlink, the ISW said, after the satellite internet firm&#39;s boss, Elon Musk, announced &quot;measures&quot; to end Russia&#39;s use of the technology. Breakthrough hopes lowFor the talks in Geneva, the Kremlin reinstated nationalist hawk and former culture minister Vladimir Medinsky as its lead negotiator. Ukrainian national security secretary Rustem Umerov was leading Kyiv&#39;s side. Hopes for a breakthrough are low. Even before the talks were underway, Ukraine had accused Russia of undermining peace efforts by launching 29 missiles and 396 drones in a series of attacks overnight into Tuesday that authorities said killed at least four people, wounded others and cut power to tens of thousands in southern Ukraine. A Russian drone strike early Tuesday killed three staff of a power plant in the frontline town of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, according to energy minister Denys Shmygal. Another person was killed in the northeastern Sumy region, local officials said. Late Tuesday, Ukraine&#39;s general staff said Russia had fired 28 missiles and 109 guided aerial bombs at its territory since the beginning of the day. &quot;The extent to which Russia disregards peace efforts: a massive missile and drone strike against Ukraine right before the next round of talks in Geneva,&quot; Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga wrote on social media. Russia, meanwhile, accused Ukraine of launching more than 150 drones overnight into Tuesday, mainly over southern regions and the Crimean peninsula &mdash; occupied by the Kremlin in 2014. An oil depot in southern Russia caught fire, according to officials. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists to expect no major news from the first day of talks.</div>

Russia's top negociator Vladimir Medinski leaves the Intercontinental hotel as a new round of talks between Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators aimed at finding a solution to four years of fighting in Ukraine, takes place in Geneva on February 17, 2026.

Says President Trump's success in bringing both sides of this war together has brought about meaningful progress, and we are proud to work under his leadership to stop the killing in this terrible conflict.

US envoy Witkoff says 'meaningful progress' made in Ukraine war talks

GENEVA: Ukrainian and Russian <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/russia-ukraine-to-hold-talks-in-geneva-on-february-1718" style="color:#0073e6;">negotiators</a> were to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/moscow-kyiv-meet-for-usbrokered-talks-after-fresh-attacks" style="color:#0073e6;">resume</a> a second round of US-mediated peace talks in Geneva on Wednesday, though neither side signaled they were any closer to ending Europe&#39;s deadliest conflict since World War II. The talks are the latest diplomatic bid to halt the fighting, which has left hundreds of thousands killed, millions forced to flee, and much of eastern and southern Ukraine decimated. The United States has been pushing for an end to the nearly four-year war, but has failed to broker a compromise between Moscow and Kyiv on the key issue of territory. Two previous rounds of negotiation between the two sides in Abu Dhabi failed to yield a breakthrough. The latest talks &quot;were very tense,&quot; a source close to the Russian delegation told AFP. &quot;They lasted six hours. They have now concluded,&quot; the source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address that he was ready &quot;to move quickly towards a worthy agreement to end the war,&quot; but questioned whether Russia was <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/russia-disregards-peace-efforts-with-overnight-attack-before-talks-ukraine-fm" style="color:#0073e6;">serious</a> about peace. &quot;What do they want?&quot; he added, accusing them of prioritizing missile strikes over &quot;real diplomacy.&quot; Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022, with the ensuing conflict resulting in a tidal wave of destruction that has left entire cities in ruins. &#39;Come to the table, fast&#39; Zelensky has repeatedly said his country is being asked to make disproportionate compromises compared to Russia. US President Donald Trump put pressure on Ukraine on Monday to make a deal, saying they &quot;better come to the table, fast.&quot; Zelensky told Axios on Tuesday it was &quot;not fair&quot; that Trump kept calling on Ukraine to broker a deal, adding that lasting peace would not be achieved if &quot;victory&quot; was just handed to Russia. &quot;I hope it is just his tactics and not the decision,&quot; Zelensky said. Russia occupies around one-fifth of Ukraine &mdash; including the Crimean peninsula it seized in 2014 &mdash; and areas that Moscow-backed separatists had taken prior to the 2022 invasion. It is pushing for full control of Ukraine&#39;s eastern Donetsk region as part of any deal, and has threatened to take it by force if talks fail. But Kyiv has rejected this deeply unpopular demand, which would be politically and militarily fraught, and signaled it will not sign a deal without security guarantees that deter Russia from invading again. Russia has been slowly seizing territory across the sprawling front line for months. But its war-time economic worries are mounting, with growth stagnating and a ballooning budget deficit as oil revenues &mdash; choked by sanctions &mdash; drop to a five-year low. Ukrainian forces recently made their fastest gains in two-and-a-half years, recapturing 201 square kilometers (78 square miles) last week, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War. That total includes areas Kyiv and military analysts say are controlled by Russia (72 square kilometers), as well as those claimed by Moscow&#39;s army (129 square kilometers). The counterattacks likely leveraged the disruption of Russian forces&#39; access to Starlink, the ISW said, after the satellite internet firm&#39;s boss, Elon Musk, announced &quot;measures&quot; to end Russia&#39;s use of the technology. Breakthrough hopes low For the talks in Geneva, the Kremlin reinstated nationalist hawk and former culture minister Vladimir Medinsky as its lead negotiator. Ukrainian national security secretary Rustem Umerov was leading Kyiv&#39;s side. Hopes for a breakthrough are low. Even before the talks were underway, Ukraine had accused Russia of undermining peace efforts by launching 29 missiles and 396 drones in a series of attacks overnight into Tuesday that authorities said killed at least four people, wounded others and cut power to tens of thousands in southern Ukraine. A Russian drone strike early Tuesday killed three staff of a power plant in the frontline town of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, according to energy minister Denys Shmygal. Another person was killed in the northeastern Sumy region, local officials said. Late Tuesday Ukraine&#39;s general staff said Russia had fired 28 missiles and 109 guided aerial bombs at its territory since the beginning of the day. &quot;The extent to which Russia disregards peace efforts: a massive missile and drone strike against Ukraine right before the next round of talks in Geneva,&quot; Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga wrote on social media. Russia meanwhile accused Ukraine of launching more than 150 drones overnight into Tuesday, mainly over southern regions and the Crimean peninsula &mdash; occupied by the Kremlin in 2014. An oil depot in southern Russia caught fire, according to officials. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists to expect no major news from the first day of talks.

Talks are the latest diplomatic bid to halt the fighting, which has left hundreds of thousands killed, millions forced to flee, and much of eastern and southern Ukraine decimated; two previous rounds of negotiation between the two sides in Abu Dhabi have failed to yield a breakthrough.





Ukraine war talks to resume in Geneva with no sign of progress

KYIV: A Russian strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Bogodukhiv killed four people, including three young children, an official said on Wednesday. Two one-year-old boys and a two-year-old girl died as a result of an enemy strike, according to regional military head Oleg Synegubov. A 34-year-old man in the same house as the children also died from his wounds, Synegubov said on Telegram. He added that a 74-year-old woman was wounded and was receiving medical assistance. In an earlier statement, he also said a 35-year-old pregnant woman had been wounded in the strike. Bogodukhiv is located in Kharkiv region, where Russian forces have recently stepped up attacks on transport and energy infrastructure. Ukrainian and Russian officials have <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/ukraine-delegation-arrives-in-uae-for-russia-talks" style="color:#0073e6;">held</a> US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending Moscow&#39;s four-year invasion. The two sides conducted a prisoner swap <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/ukraine-russia-exchange-pows-for-first-time-in-months" style="color:#0073e6;">last week</a>, though an agreement to draw a line under the conflict still seems a way off. According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), around 15,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since Russia invaded in February 2022. HRMMU said that 2025 was the deadliest year with more than 2,500 civilians killed.

Ukrainian and Russian officials have held US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending Moscow's four-year invasion; two sides conducted a prisoner swap last week, though an agreement to draw a line under the conflict still seems a way off.



Russian strike on Ukraine kills 4, including 3 young children: report

KYIV: Russia launched the &quot;most powerful&quot; attack this year on Ukraine&#39;s battered energy facilities overnight, Kyiv said on Tuesday, leaving hundreds of thousands without heating in frigid temperatures ahead of talks to end the four-year <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/russian-strikes-in-ukraine-kill-12-target-passenger-train" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">war</a>. Russia&#39;s strikes hit as temperatures dropped to their lowest since the start of the war in February 2022, killing two teenagers in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia and damaging a&nbsp;Soviet-era&nbsp;World War II monument. The attack came a day before Ukrainian and Russian negotiators were due to meet for a second round of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi. &quot;Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important to Russia than turning to diplomacy,&quot; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, denouncing the attack. He said Russia had &quot;once again disregarded the efforts of the American side.&quot; US President Donald Trump urged Vladimir Putin to &quot;end the war,&quot; adding that he &quot;would like&quot; his Russian counterpart to extend a brief halt in attacks due to the frigid temperatures. NATO chief Mark Rutte, who visited Kyiv on Tuesday, said &quot;Russian attacks like those last night do not signal seriousness about peace.&quot; An air alert blared out across Kyiv during Rutte&#39;s visit. AFP journalists heard explosions across the capital overnight, and residents in hundreds of buildings woke to find their heating cut off as temperatures dipped toward minus 20 Celsius. More than 1,100 residential buildings remained without heat as of late Tuesday, Restoration Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said. Some residents gathered around a damaged building, stepping over creaking debris and a thick layer of ice coating the ground. &quot;Our windows are broken, and we have no heating,&quot; Anastasia Grytsenko told AFP. &quot;We don&#39;t know what to do.&quot; Russia&#39;s defense ministry confirmed it had launched &quot;a massive strike&quot; against &quot;Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises and energy facilities.&quot; The Kremlin had last week said it agreed to a US request not to strike Kyiv for seven days, ending Sunday. Ukraine had not reported large-scale Russian attacks on the capital last week, while denouncing continued attacks in other parts of the country. &quot;Several types of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones, were used to strike high-rise buildings and thermal power plants,&quot; Energy Minister Denys Shmygal said. &quot;Hundreds of thousands of families, including children, were deliberately left without heat in the harshest winter frosts,&quot; he added. Tuesday&#39;s strike on energy facilities was &quot;the most powerful&quot; since the start of 2026, Ukraine&#39;s largest private energy provider confirmed. Ukraine&#39;s air force said Russia had attacked with 71 missiles and 450 attack drones. Six people were wounded in the capital, officials said. A drone strike on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia also killed two teenagers and wounded at least 11 people, officials said. &#39;Symbolic and cynical&#39;&nbsp;The base of Kyiv&#39;s towering Soviet-era Motherland statue was damaged. &quot;It is both symbolic and cynical: the aggressor state strikes at a place of remembrance of the struggle against aggression in the 20th century, repeating its crimes in the 21st century,&quot; Culture Minister Tetyana Berezhna wrote on social media. Recent Russian strikes have repeatedly cut power and heating to tens of thousands of homes. Strikes also hit Ukraine&#39;s second-largest city, Kharkiv, temporarily cutting heating to around 100,000 subscribers. Authorities had to cut heating to more than 800 homes to prevent the wider network from freezing, the regional governor said. Overnight temperatures had plunged to minus 19 Celsius in Kyiv and minus 23 Celsius in Kharkiv. US pushes for deal&nbsp;Russian occupation authorities in southern Ukraine said Ukrainian shelling had killed three people in the town of Nova Kakhovka. Kremlin-installed authorities said the shelling hit a municipal building and a fruit shop. &quot;There are dead: three people, including an employee of the administration,&quot; said Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-backed head of the Russian-controlled part of the Kherson region. Nova Kakhovka fell to Russian forces in the first days of their 2022 invasion. The United States has sought to craft a settlement between the two sides, but a first round of <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/first-round-of-usrussiaukraine-talks-ends-in-abu-dhabi" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">trilateral</a> talks held in Abu Dhabi last month failed to yield a breakthrough. A second round is due to <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/kremlin-confirms-ukraine-war-talks-this-week-in-abu-dhabi" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">begin</a> on Wednesday in the Emirati capital, and is expected to focus on the crucial issue of territory. Russia has demanded Kyiv withdraw from the Donetsk region and has repeatedly said it is ready to seize the rest of eastern Ukraine by force if diplomacy fails.

The US has sought to craft a settlement between the two sides, but a first round of trilateral talks failed to yield a breakthrough. A second round is due to begin on Wednesday in the Emirati capital.

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