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Ukraine’s navy said the vessel had 11 Turkish citizens onboard
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Ukraine‘s navy has accused Russia of deliberately attacking a civilian Turkish vessel carrying sunflower oil to Egypt with a drone.
In a statement on Telegram, the navy said vessel was called the Viva and had 11 Turkish citizens on board. It added that nobody was hurt and the vessel was continuing its journey to Egypt.
“The strike was carried out in the open sea in Ukraine’s exclusive economic zone, outside the range of Ukrainian air defence systems,” the statement said, accusing Russia of breaching maritime laws.
On Friday, Russia attacked two Ukrainian ports, damaging three Turkish-owned vessels, according to Ukraine’s navy. A large fire broke out on one of those ships.
It comes as Donald Trump’s top envoy and his son-in-law are set for crunch talks with Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders over a peace deal.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will meet the Ukrainian president in Berlin this weekend, a US official briefed on the matter said.
In Ukraine, Russia launched overnight drone and missile strikes on five Ukrainian regions, targeting energy and port infrastructure.
Ukrainian interior minister Ihor Klymenko said that over a million people were without electricity.
Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponising” the cold.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday he would meet US and European representatives in Berlin to discuss “fundamentals of peace.”
Zelenskiy said Ukraine needed a “dignified” peace and a guarantee that Russia, which invaded his country in 2022, would not attack again.
Germany said earlier on Saturday that it would host U.S. and Ukrainian delegations over the weekend for talks on a ceasefire in Ukraine, before a summit involving European leaders and Zelensky in Berlin on Monday.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday discussed work on U.S.-led proposals for Ukraine and moves to use frozen Russian sovereign assets to help provide funds for Kyiv.
“Both agreed that this is a pivotal moment for Ukraine’s future, and that Europe will stand with them for as long as it takes to achieve a just and lasting peace,” a Downing Street spokesperson said after the two leaders spoke.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has claimed that “peace is not far away” after a meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Erdogan met Putin in Turkmenistan on Friday, and they evaluated “comprehensive peace efforts” to end the war, a statement from Erdogan’s office said on Friday.
“After this meeting with Putin, we hope to have the opportunity to discuss the peace plan with U.S. President Trump as well. Peace is not far away; we see that,” Erdogan told reporters on his return flight from Turkmenistan.
Erdogan had told Putin on Friday that a limited ceasefire in the war, focused on energy facilities and ports in particular, could be beneficial.
Human rights campaigner Ales Bialiatski became a globally recognised symbol of resistance to the authoritarian rule of Lukashenko when he was awarded a share of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, only the fourth person to win the award while detained.
Many activists and opposition figures fled the country when Lukashenko used his security forces to crush mass pro-democracy protests in 2020, but Bialiatski decided to stay.
He was arrested in 2021. In April 2023, he was sentenced to 10 years in a penal colony after being found guilty of finance and smuggling charges related to the funding Viasna, the rights organisation that he founded.
He denied the accusations, insisting they were politically motivated.
President Donald Trump’s envoy John Coale has said that Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko had promised to stop weather balloons flying from his country into Lithuania.
“He agreed recently to do everything he could to stop the balloons,” Coale told Reuters in Vilnius, after two days of talks with Lukashenko.
The balloons, used by cigarette smugglers, have caused over a dozen closures of Vilnius airport in recent months.
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