Ukrainian negotiators are flying to the US for peace talks as the Turkish government has condemned Ukrainian drone attacks on two Russian ‘shadow fleet’ oil tankers in the Black Sea.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said the attacks on the Kairos and Virat vessels happened inside Turkey’s exclusive economic zone and ‘posed serious risks to navigation, life, property and environmental safety in the region’.
In a social media post, he added that Turkey is holding talks with ‘the relevant parties’ to prevent the spread of the war in Ukraine across the Black Sea and to protect Turkey’s economic interests.
Ukraine said it used ‘Sea Baby’ naval drones to hit the tankers in quick succession off Turkey’s Black Sea coast late on Friday afternoon. Crew members on both vessels were reported to be safe.
The OpenSanctions database, which tracks people or organisations involved in sanctions evasion, describes the vessels as part of Russia’s shadow fleet, a collection of ships used to evade sanctions imposed on Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The Kairos was struck in the south-west area of the Black Sea, while the Virat was hit in a central area further east.
Turkey said it provided assistance to both vessels following the attack, with Turkish ships seen trying to put out fires on each ship.
Ukraine has targeted vessels in Putin’s shadow fleet to try and stem the flow of cash that is fuelling his war machine.
Despite continued efforts to take out Putin’s Achilles Heel, Ukrainian negotiatiors are meeting top Trump officials in Florida this weekend to push for an end to Russia’s invasion and set the stage for key talks in Moscow.
The impact triggers huge explosions that send flames and thick black smoke billowing into the sky
Extraordinary footage shows the unmanned craft – deployed by Ukraine’s secret service – racing across the Black Sea before slamming into the hulking vessels
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, were expected to sit down with a Ukrainian delegation to further hash out the details of a proposed peace framework – talks that come at a sensitive moment for Ukraine as it continues to push back against Russian forces that invaded the country in 2022.
On Friday, just before the Florida sit-down, Zelensky announced the resignation of his powerful chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, who up until that point had been the country’s lead negotiator in talks with the U.S.
The announcement came after Yermak’s home was searched by anti-corruption investigators. Zelensky’s government has been roiled by fallout from a scandal over £75million embezzled from the energy sector through kickbacks paid by contractors, causing newfound domestic pressures for Zelensky.
It was only a week ago that Rubio had met with Yermak in Geneva, with each side saying the talks had been positive in putting together a revised peace plan.
Now, 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, Zelensky has said.
Diplomats have been focused on revisions to Trump’s proposed 28-point plan developed in negotiations between Washington and Moscow. That plan was criticized as being too weighted toward Russian demands. It had initially envisioned Ukraine ceding the entire eastern region of the Donbas to Russia – a sticking point for Kyiv.
The plan – which Trump has since downplayed as a ‘concept’ or a ‘map’ to be ‘fine-tuned’ – would also impose limits on the size of Ukraine’s military, block the country from joining NATO, and require Ukraine to hold elections in 100 days.
Negotiators have indicated the framework has changed, but it’s not clear how its provisions have been altered.
This is the astonishing moment two tankers from Russia ‘s ‘shadow fleet’ were smashed by Ukrainian sea drones and erupted into towering fireballs
According to officials in Kyiv , the coordinated attacks were carried out by Ukraine’s SBU security service together with the navy, using their now-infamous ‘Sea Baby’ naval drones
Trump said on Tuesday that he would send Witkoff and perhaps Kushner to Moscow this week to meet with Putin about the plan. Both Witkoff and Kushner, like Trump, hail from the world of real estate that values dealmaking over the conventions of diplomacy. The pair also were behind a 20-point proposal that led to a ceasefire in Gaza.
Zelensky wrote on X that the Ukrainian delegation would ‘swiftly and substantively work out the steps needed to end the war.’
In his nightly address on Saturday, Zelensky said the American side was ‘demonstrating a constructive approach.’
‘In the coming days it is feasible to flesh out the steps to determine how to bring the war to a dignified end,’ he said.
Ukraine has carried out successful naval strikes against Russian shipping previously, particularly using explosives-packed marine drones.
But those missions had largely been limited to the waters of the northern Black Sea, indicating an escalation in Ukraine’s range of attack.
Under Zelensky, Ukraine has been targeting the source of funding for Putin’s war machine – Russian oil.
Despite major sanctions, Putin has managed to flog oil across the world, in large part thanks to the shadow fleet.
But Ukraine has been deliberately targeting oil refineries across Russia, as well as transportation lines.
A second strike targeted another Russian-operated tanker near the Bosphorus Strait, with shocking onboard video capturing the drone skimming over the waves, closing in on its target and detonating against the ship’s flank
Sparks scatter into the air as the blast tears through the vessel, leaving a sheet of fire across the water and a trail of smoke stretching for miles
In a separate instance, a major consortium of oil producers said it was suspending loading in the Russian Black Sea Novorossiysk, following an overnight attack of unmanned boats.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium said the attack had caused significant damage to a mooring point. Both Russia and Kazakhstan are key players in the firm, which is also part-owned by Western oil producers including Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Shell.
Kazakhstan is furious with the attack, with its foreign minister Aibek Smadiyarov expressing his rage at it, claiming it was the third of its kind.
He said his nation only wants to ensure a ‘stable and uninterrupted’ energy supply.
He outright said the attack had harmed the relationship between his nation and Ukraine, and called on Zelensky to ‘take concrete measures to prevent the recurrence of such situations’.
