KYIV, UKRAINE, MAR 8 (AFP/APP/DNA):Russian strikes overnight had killed at least 12 people in eastern Ukraine as of Saturday morning, the country’s emergency service said, days ahead of talks in Saudi Arabia between US and Ukrainian negotiators aimed at a truce.
A Russian assault hit the centre of Dobropillia in Ukraine’s Donetsk region late Friday, killing 11 people and wounding 30, according to the emergency service.
Separately, one person was killed in a drone attack and seven others wounded early Saturday in the city of Bogodukhiv, said Kharkiv region military head Oleg Synegubov.
The overnight air raids come after US President Donald Trump threatened new sanctions and tariffs on Russia but said it may be “easier” to work with Moscow than Kyiv on efforts to end the three-year war.
After Trump publicly berated Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky during a White House meeting and suspended US aid to Kyiv in a stated bid to encourage diplomacy, the US president told reporters Friday that he trusted Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I’m finding it more difficult frankly to deal with Ukraine and they don’t have the cards,” Trump said. “It may be easier dealing with Russia.”
The remarks followed Trump earlier Friday threatening new sanctions and tariffs on Russia over its bombardments of Ukraine — his warning coming just hours after Moscow launched a “massive” drone and missile attack on Ukrainian energy facilities.
“Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late,” he added.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, on the phone Friday.
On the call, Rubio underscored Trump’s goal of ending the three-year war quickly, and emphasized that “all sides must take steps to secure a sustainable peace”, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
:Russian strikes overnight had killed at least 12 people in eastern Ukraine as of Saturday morning, the){kind=link}