{"id":173731,"date":"2025-11-30T11:58:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T11:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-kyiv-delegation-arrive-in-us-for-peace-talks-after-drone-strike-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T11:58:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T11:58:21","slug":"ukraine-war-latest-kyiv-delegation-arrive-in-us-for-peace-talks-after-drone-strike-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-kyiv-delegation-arrive-in-us-for-peace-talks-after-drone-strike-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war latest: Kyiv delegation arrive in US for peace talks after drone strike – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ukraine has claimed to have hit Putin\u2019s \u201cshadow fleet\u201d oil tankers as it seeks to step up pressure on Russia’s oil industry
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A Ukrainian delegation is in the US this weekend to meet Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s top leadership for high-stakes talks aimed at shaping a potential peace framework to end Russia<\/a>\u2019s war against Ukraine<\/a>.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law, are holding discussions with a Ukrainian delegation to refine the 28-point peace plan proposed by Trump.
The Ukrainian delegation includes Andrii Hnatov, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces; Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister; and Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s security council, president Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> said.
It comes as an official from Ukraine<\/a>\u2019s security services said it has hit \u201cshadow fleet\u201d tankers in the Black Sea<\/a> as they headed to a Russian terminal to load up with oil bound for foreign markets.
Ukraine used domestically produced Sea Baby drones to strike off the Turkish coast, prompting a rescue operation by the Turkish coast guard. All members aboard the vessels are reported to be safe.
A massive Russian missile and drone attack in Kyiv<\/a> has killed six people and wounded dozens in strikes targeting Ukrainian military-industrial and energy facilities.
Ukraine<\/a> has reportedly deployed its domestically produced Sea Baby naval drones to target two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea<\/a>, a Ukrainian security services official confirmed on Saturday.<\/a>
The vessels, identified as the Kairos and Virat, are believed to be part of Russia\u2019s “shadow fleet” used to circumvent international sanctions.
The strikes occurred in quick succession off Turkey\u2019s Black Sea<\/a> coast late Friday afternoon. Following the incidents, the Turkish coast guard initiated rescue operations, with reports indicating that all crew members on both tankers were safe.
Kazakhstan sharply criticised Ukraine on Sunday after a drone strike damaged a key Black Sea terminal belonging to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which transports more than 1 per cent of the world\u2019s oil.
The CPC announced on Saturday that it had suspended operations after a mooring at its Novorossiysk terminal suffered significant damage in what it described as a Ukrainian naval drone attack.
Kazakhstan\u2019s foreign ministry lodged a formal protest, denouncing \u201cyet another deliberate attack on the critical infrastructure of the international Caspian Pipeline Consortium in the waters of the Port of Novorossiysk\u201d.
\u201cThis incident marks the third act of aggression against an exclusively civilian facility whose operation is protected under international law,\u201d the ministry said.
Soldiers fighting on Ukraine<\/a>\u2019s front lines see no change on the battlefield<\/a> while peace talks continue back and forth<\/a> between Kyiv, the Kremlin and the US, a Ukrainian filmmaker has said.
Mstyslav Chernov, the Academy Award-winning director of 20 Days in Mariupol,<\/em> gave The Independent<\/em><\/a> <\/em>an insight into morale on the frontline after the limited release of his latest documentary, 2000 Meters to Andriivka<\/em>, put him straight on the battlefield <\/a>with Ukraine\u2019s armed forces.
It comes as Ukrainian officials continue to negotiate peace terms after the US president Donald Trump<\/a> put forward a deal to end the war which critics have described as being pro-Russian.
Vladimir Putin<\/a> knows exactly how to manipulate Donald Trump<\/a> and has no intention of stopping the war<\/a> in Ukraine<\/a> despite the US president\u2019s calls for peace, a top former White House aide warns.
Fiona Hill<\/a>, a national security adviser during Mr Trump<\/a>\u2019s first administration and an expert on Russia<\/a>, regularly witnessed meetings between the two men.
In an exclusive interview with The Independent\u2019s podcast World of Trouble, <\/em>she reveals how Putin has \u201cgot Trump\u2019s number\u201d and feels able to mock the US president to his face, relying on the language barrier to cover his teasing.
Top Trump administration figures are meeting Ukrainian negotiators in Florida this weekend as Washington pushes to broker an end to Russia\u2019s war, ahead of a pivotal round of talks expected in Moscow with Vladimir Putin later this week.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law, are holding discussions with a Ukrainian delegation to refine a proposed peace framework.
Hours before the Florida meeting, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the resignation of his powerful chief of staff Andrii Yermak, who had been leading negotiations with the US.
His departure followed a search of his home by anti-corruption investigators, amid a scandal involving $100m allegedly embezzled from Ukraine\u2019s energy sector, a controversy that has intensified domestic pressure on Zelensky.
Yermak had met Rubio in Geneva just a week earlier, with both sides calling those talks constructive.The newly configured Ukrainian team now includes Andrii Hnatov, commander-in-chief of Ukraine\u2019s armed forces; foreign minister Andrii Sybiha; and security council chief Rustem Umerov.
Diplomats are working on revisions to Trump\u2019s original 28-point peace proposal, which critics said was tilted toward Moscow \u2014 including provisions that envisaged Ukraine ceding the entire Donbas, limiting the size of its military and barring Nato membership. Trump has since described the plan as a \u201cconcept\u201d or \u201cmap\u201d that would need fine-tuning, but negotiators have not detailed what changes have been made.
Trump said this week he would send Witkoff and possibly Kushner to Moscow for direct talks with Putin.
Both men come from the deal-making world of real estate and previously helped craft the 20-point proposal that led to a Gaza ceasefire.
US secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will meet Ukrainian officials today in Florida, a senior US official told Reuters.
A Ukrainian delegation is headed to the United States to continue talks on a deal to end the war.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he expected that the results of previous meetings with the US in Geneva, which took place last weekend, would now be “hammered out” today.
South African police have detained four men at Johannesburg airport on suspicion of being recruited to fight for Russia. The group was stopped at the boarding gate on Friday as they prepared to travel via the UAE, police said.
The arrests come weeks after reports that 17 South African men were stranded in Ukraine, having allegedly been lured with promises of lucrative mercenary contracts.
South African law prohibits citizens from providing military assistance to foreign governments or joining foreign armies without authorisation.
The Hawks, South Africa\u2019s elite police unit, said a tip-off led officers to the men, and that an initial investigation suggests a South African woman was facilitating their recruitment and travel to Russia.
The four are expected to appear in court on Monday for allegedly contravening the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered a probe into how the 17 men ended up fighting in Ukraine.
Ukrainian minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal delivered a report to the US delegation, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.
\u201cIt is time to update the fundamental defense documents of Ukraine, including the national defense plan. The course of hostilities has shown what must become the renewed priorities,\u201d he said.
\u201cWe agreed that Denys will prepare detailed proposals for these changes and present them to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine for approval.\u201d
Security council secretary Rustem Umerov was leading the delegation after the previous lead negotiator, Zelensky’s powerful chief of staff Andriy Yermak, resigned on Friday hours after anti-corruption detectives searched his apartment.
Zelensky has said Ukraine is in one of the most difficult moments in its history, but promised his people in a dramatic address last week that he would not betray the country.
A Russian attack in Kyiv has caused a blackout in most of the capital.
At least six people have been killed in the attack that caused explosions and fire.
Vitaliy Zaichenko, head of Ukraine\u2019s state grid operator Ukrenergo, told the Kyiv Independent<\/em> that transmission lines had been hit and nearly half of Kyiv was now without power.
Ukrainian naval drones struck two sanctioned oil tankers in the Black Sea as they sailed towards a Russian port to collect crude bound for foreign markets, a Ukrainian security official said on Saturday \u2013 the latest effort by Kyiv to disrupt Moscow\u2019s vast oil trade.
The vessels, identified as the Kairos and Virat, were empty and en route to Novorossiysk, a key Russian oil terminal, according to an official from Ukraine\u2019s Security Service (SBU) speaking to Reuters.
Video shared by the official shows naval drones racing towards the tankers before powerful blasts ignite fires on board.
\u201cAfter the strikes, both tankers suffered critical damage and were effectively taken out of service. This will significantly hit Russia\u2019s oil transportation,\u201d the SBU official said in a written statement.
Ukraine has spent months targeting Russian oil refineries with long-range aerial drones, hitting infrastructure deep behind the front lines.
Striking tankers at sea marks a shift in Kyiv\u2019s campaign, as it presses Western partners to act against Russia\u2019s so-called \u201cshadow fleet\u201d \u2013 hundreds of ageing, lightly regulated vessels that Ukraine says help Moscow evade sanctions and continue exporting oil to fund its war.
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Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inSwipe for next articleUkraine has claimed to have hit Putin\u2019s \u201cshadow fleet\u201d oil tankers as it seeks to step up pressure on Russia’s oil industryFrom reproductive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":173732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-173731","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}