Russia intensified attacks on Ukraine's Black Sea ports while Kyiv continued long-range drone strikes inside Russia, as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks that produced no breakthrough towards a ceasefire.
Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces struck the Black Sea ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk, targeting port infrastructure, fuel storage facilities, warehouses and cargo vessels that it claimed supported Ukraine's military. It also said it had destroyed facilities used to store Ukrainian drones.
Ukraine, meanwhile, continued long-range drone strikes inside Russia, targeting logistics and industrial facilities that Kyiv says support Moscow's war effort. Russian officials reported casualties and damage to infrastructure in southern regions and Russian-controlled Crimea following overnight attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spoke by telephone on Wednesday about ways to reinvigorate diplomacy and advance efforts to end the more than four-year war with Russia. Both Kyiv and the White House confirmed the call, which came as U.S.-led efforts to broker a settlement have largely stalled in recent months amid Washington's focus on the conflict with Iran.
The diplomatic push continued on Thursday when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Manila. The talks formed part of renewed efforts to revive negotiations over Ukraine, but neither side announced any breakthrough towards a ceasefire.
Lavrov reiterated that Moscow remained open to a political settlement while insisting any agreement must address what Russia describes as the conflict's "root causes". Ukraine continues to reject any settlement that compromises its sovereignty or territorial integrity.
The renewed diplomatic contacts came as Ukraine reshuffled its military leadership. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi as commander-in-chief, tasking him with increasing pressure on Russian forces while continuing to seek additional air defence systems and military support from Western allies.
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