Top Ukrainian negotiator: Talks with US will continue in Davos

Rustem Umerov, Ukraine's chief negotiator, said that the talks with U.S. officials to resolve the nearly four-year old?war against Russia will continue this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Umerov wrote on Telegram that two days of Florida talks with a U.S. delegation including Steve Witkoff, envoy, and Jared Kushner (the son-in law of President Donald Trump) had been focused on security guarantees and a recovery plan for Ukraine after the war.

He did not indicate whether any agreements were reached at the meeting.

Umerov wrote: "We agreed to keep working at the team level in the next phase consultations in Davos."

Umerov stated that the two sides had "discussed" in depth the two issues in the latest of a series meetings to work out the details of an agreement, "focusing on the practical mechanisms, and implementing and executing them." He said that his delegation reported on Russian attacks last week, which severely damaged Ukraine's infrastructure for energy and left hundreds apartment buildings without heating or electricity.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, said that it was vital to highlight the devastating effects of Russian strikes because they showed?that Russia is not interested in diplomacy.

Zelenskiy's nightly video addressed stated that "if the Russians had been seriously interested in ending the conflict, they would have concentrated on diplomacy."

He said that Ukrainian intelligence had determined Russia was conducting reconnaissance on key sites, including targets related to Ukraine's nuke power stations.

Andrii Sybiha, the Foreign Minister of Russia, said that evidence suggests Russia is considering an attack on substations that supply nuclear power plants.

Russia has not commented on the allegations. (Reporting and editing by Edmund Klamann, Matthew Lewis, and Ron Popeski from Winnipeg)

(source: Reuters)