KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Sunday of creating a false appearance of honoring an Easter ceasefire, saying Moscow continued to launch attacks after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a unilateral temporary truce.

“As of Easter morning, we can say that the Russian army is trying to create a general impression of a ceasefire, but in some places, it does not abandon individual attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

Despite Putin’s declaration of an Easter ceasefire, Zelenskyy said Sunday morning that Ukrainian forces had recorded 59 instances of Russian shelling and five assaults by units along the front line, as well as dozens of drone strikes.

In later updates, Zelenskyy said that despite Ukraine declaring a symmetrical approach to Russian actions, “the trend of increasing the use of heavy weaponry by Russian forces continues.” He said, however, that it was “a good thing, at least, that there were no air raid sirens.”

He noted that some Ukrainian troops were killed in a Russian “ambush” on Sunday in the Donetsk region, and said the Russian soldiers responsible would be “eliminated.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry accused Ukrainian forces of overnight attacks in the Donetsk region despite the ceasefire. It said Ukraine had sent 48 drones into Russian territory. According to the ministry, there were “dead and wounded among the civilian population,” without giving details. It claimed Russian troops had strictly observed the truce.

Russia-installed officials in the partially occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson also said Ukrainian forces had launched attacks.

Zelenskyy said that Russia must fully adhere to the ceasefire conditions and reiterated Ukraine’s offer to extend the truce for 30 days when it ends midnight Sunday. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow had not responded to Kyiv’s proposal.

“In practice, either Putin does not have full control over his army, or the situation proves that in Russia, they have no intention of making a genuine move toward ending the war, and are only interested in favorable PR coverage,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Just hours after announcing the ceasefire, Putin attended an Easter service late Saturday at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour led by Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a vocal supporter of Putin and the war in Ukraine.

Putin offered no details on how the ceasefire would be monitored or whether it would cover airstrikes or ongoing ground battles that rage around the clock.

His announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “coming to a head” and insisted that neither side is “playing” him in his push to end the grinding three-year war.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine ___

Morton reported from London.

CHERNIHIV REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine said it would reciprocate any genuine ceasefire by Moscow, but voiced skepticism after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary Easter truce in Ukraine starting Saturday.

The announcement from Kyiv came as Russia and Ukraine conducted their largest prisoner exchange since Moscow’s full-scale invasion started over three years ago. Putin announced a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine starting Saturday, citing humanitarian reasons. According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will last from 6 p.m. Moscow time (1500 GMT) on Saturday to midnight (2100 GMT) following Easter Sunday.

Putin offered no details on how the ceasefire would be monitored or whether it would cover airstrikes or ongoing ground battles that rage around the clock.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said if Russia is genuinely ready to observe a full and unconditional ceasefire, Ukraine will mirror that approach and strike only in defense.

He said such a gesture, particularly over the Easter weekend, could reveal Moscow’s true intentions.

“If a full ceasefire truly takes hold, Ukraine proposes extending it beyond Easter Day on April 20,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram. “That will reveal Russia’s true intentions, as 30 hours are enough for headlines, but not for genuine confidence-building measures.”

Zelenskyy added that, according to military reports, Russian assaults and artillery fire continued along parts of the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) long front line.

In response to the ceasefire announcement, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Kyiv had in March “agreed unconditionally to the U.S. proposal of a full interim ceasefire for 30 days,” which Russia rejected.

“Putin has now made statements about his alleged readiness for a ceasefire. 30 hours instead of 30 days,” Sybiha continued, writing on X. “Unfortunately, we have had a long history of his statements not matching his actions.”

Putin’s ceasefire announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “coming to a head” and insisted that neither side is “playing” him in his push to end the grinding three-year war.

The two sides meanwhile exchanged hundreds of POWs on Saturday. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that 246 Russian service members were returned from Ukraine, and 31 wounded Ukrainian POWs were transferred in exchange for 15 wounded Russian soldiers in need of urgent medical care.

Zelenskyy said that 277 Ukrainian “warriors” have returned home from Russian captivity.

Both sides thanked the United Arab Emirates for their mediation.

Most of the Ukrainians freed in the latest prisoner exchange are young people born after 2000, Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said Friday.

Outside a hospital in Ukraine’s Northern Chernihiv region, where recently freed POWs were brought after the exchange at the border, dozens of relatives stood waiting.

Among them was 48-year-old Nataliia Lohvynchuk, who rushed toward the bus the moment it arrived. She hadn’t seen her son in three years, since he was captured during the battle for Mariupol in the spring of 2022.

Her son, 23-year-old Ihor Lohvynchuk, lost about 40 kilograms (88 pounds) in captivity. “It still doesn’t feel real,” he said softly. “We’re not really here yet. We all made it back, but we’re still not here.

His mother, overcome with emotion and embracing her son, issued a plea: “We call on the entire world, on every country — help us bring all our boys home.”

Thousands of POWs remain in captivity. The exchange is the fourth this year and the 63rd since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Since the outbreak of the war, a total of 4,552 Ukrainians, both military and civilians, have been returned from captivity.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday its forces pushed Ukrainian troops from the village of Oleshnya, one of their last remaining footholds in Russia’s Kursk region, where the Ukrainians staged a surprise incursion last year.

Gerasimov said Saturday in a report to Putin, quoted by Russian state media, that Russia had retaken nearly all of the territory from Ukrainian forces.

“The main part of the region’s territory, where the invasion took place, has now been liberated. This is 1,260 square kilometers, 99.5%,” Gerasimov said.

Zelenskyy wrote on X that Ukrainian forces “continued their activity on the territory of the Kursk region and are holding their positions.” Ukraine also claimed that it holds a presence beyond the Kursk region in Russian territory with an aim of preventing the offensive on the Sumy region and to fight on enemy’s soil.

The Associated Press was unable to verify the claim immediately from Russia.

According to the Russian state news agency Tass, Russia is still fighting to push Ukrainian forces out of the village of Gornal, some 7 miles (11 kilometers) south of Oleshnya.

In other developments, the Ukrainian air force reported that Russia fired 87 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Saturday. It said 33 of them were intercepted and another 36 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.

Russian attacks damaged farms in the Odesa region and sparked fires in the Sumy region overnight, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Saturday. Fires were contained, and no casualties were reported.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, said its air defense systems shot down two Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday.

PARIS (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the U.S. may “move on” from trying to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no progress in the coming days, after months of efforts have failed to bring an end to the fighting.

He spoke in Paris after landmark talks among U.S., Ukrainian and European officials produced outlines for steps toward peace and appeared to make some long-awaited progress. A new meeting is expected next week in London, and Rubio suggested that could be decisive in determining whether the Trump administration continues its involvement.

“We are now reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even possible or not,” Rubio told reporters upon departure. “Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on.”

“It’s not our war,” Rubio said. “We have other priorities to focus on.” He said the U.S. administration wants to decide “in a matter of days.”

His comments came as the U.S. and Ukraine are nearing a long-delayed deal granting the U.S. access to Ukraine’s vast mineral resources, which has been intertwined with President Donald Trump’s peace push. Trump said Thursday, “We have a minerals deal,″ and Ukraine’s economy minister said Friday that the two countries signed a memorandum of intent ahead of a possible fuller agreement later.

The deal, which Ukrainian Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said she signed with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is expected to pave the way for significant investments, infrastructure modernization and long-term cooperation.

The framework of the mineral deal had stalled in February following a contentious Oval Office meeting between Trump, U.S. Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Negotiations have since resumed.

Despite apparent growing U.S. impatience with the peace efforts, Rubio called Thursday’s Paris talks constructive. “Nobody rejected anything, nobody got up from the table or walked away.”

Rubio didn’t single out Russia or Ukraine as blocking peace efforts. He said he informed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about the outlines that emerged when they spoke after the Paris talks, but wouldn’t say how Lavrov reacted.

When asked about Rubio’s comments on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “fairly complex” negotiations are ongoing between Russia and the U.S. He did not give details but said no direct talks between Trump and Putin are scheduled in the coming days.

“Russia is striving toward resolving this conflict, securing its own interests, and is open to dialogue. We are continuing to do this,” he said.

After weeks of tensions with European allies, Rubio told reporters in Paris that the European negotiators proved helpful. “The U.K. and France and Germany can help us move the ball on this.”

European concerns are growing about Trump’s readiness to draw closer to Russia. These talks were the first time since Trump’s inauguration that top American, Ukrainian and European officials met to discuss an end to the war, which has posed the biggest security challenge to Europe since World War II.

The meetings addressed security guarantees for Ukraine in the future, but Rubio wouldn’t discuss any possible U.S. role in that. Some kind of U.S. support for Ukraine is seen as crucial to ensuring that Russia would not attack again after a peace deal is reached.

Rubio and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff have helped lead U.S. efforts to seek peace, and Witkoff has met three times with Putin, Rubio said. Several rounds of negotiations have been held in Saudi Arabia.

Moscow has effectively refused to accept a comprehensive ceasefire that Trump has pushed and Ukraine has endorsed. Russia has made it conditional on a halt in Ukraine’s mobilization efforts and Western arms supplies, which are demands rejected by Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia kept up a series of deadly strikes on Ukrainian cities, according to officials there, wounding scores of civilians days after missiles killed at least 34 during Palm Sunday celebrations in the northern city of Sumy.

One person died and 98 others, including six children, were hurt as Russia hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, early in the day, its mayor Ihor Terekhov reported on Friday. He said cluster munitions struck a “densely populated” neighborhood four times.

Russian drones also targeted a bakery in Sumy, less than a week after the deadly Palm Sunday strike there, killing a customer and wounding an employee, the regional prosecutor’s office said. Photos released by the agency showed rows of Easter cakes stacked inside a devastated building, covered in thick dust, as a huge hole gaped in the wall behind them and rubble piled up on the floor.

Last Sunday’s strike on Sumy, resulting in mass casualties, was the second large-scale missile attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week. Some 20 people, including nine children, died on April 4 as missiles struck Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih.

Arhirova reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Illia Novikov in Kyiv and Joanna Kozlowska in London contributed to this report.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Vice President JD Vance of “somehow justifying” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine as he urged President Donald Trump to visit his country before engaging in any further talks about ending the conflict.

In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” broadcast Sunday, Zelenskyy said Russian narratives about the war appear to have taken hold in Washington as he singled out Vance’s approach during his historical Oval Office clash with Trump.

“First and foremost, we did not launch an attack [to start the war],” Zelenskyy said, according to a translation by CBS, appearing to refer to Trump’s false claims that Ukraine was responsible for the war breaking out.

“It seems to me that the vice president is somehow justifying Putin’s actions. I tried to explain, ‘You can’t look for something in the middle. There is an aggressor and there is a victim. The Russians are the aggressor, and we are the victim,’” he added.

In response, Vance’s press secretary Taylor Van Kirk said Zelenskyy’s comments “are counterproductive to the goal of achieving peace for his country.”

“Instead of mischaracterizing Vice President Vance’s rhetoric, President Zelenskyy should be focused on bringing this conflict to a peaceful conclusion,” the statement adds.

During the infamous White House meeting, Zelenskyy urged Vance to visit his country to survey the damage inflicted by Russia across Ukraine.

“I’ve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President,” Vance shot back at the time.

Zelenskyy, the Trump administration’s criticism of him, including the president calling him a “dictator,” reflects “the enormous influence of Russia’s information policy on America, on U.S. politics, and U.S. politicians,” according to the translation provided by CBS. Elections have been suspended in Ukraine due to the war.

The wartime leader has extended an invitation to Trump to visit Ukraine before engaging in further negotiations to broker peace between the two countries.

“Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,” he told CBS’ Scott Pelley. “Come, look, and then let’s — let’s move with a plan how to finish the war.”

Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin on Friday in Russia as Trump called on Moscow to “get moving.”

“Too many people [are] DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Witkoff’s meeting with Putin lasted for over four hours, according to the Kremlin.

Zelenskyy, who conceded he hates Putin, told Pelley the Russian president can’t be trusted, as he laid out what was at stake in this critical juncture in the war.

“Putin’s ultimate goal is to revive the Russian Empire and reclaim territories currently under NATO protection,” Zelenskyy said, according to CBS’ translation. “And the United States being part of NATO means it will be involved in any potential conflict. Considering all of this, I believe it could escalate into a world war.”

Trump lashed out at CBS on Sunday evening following the broadcast of the “60 Minutes” episode. He, once again, said the Ukraine war would have never started if he were in charge, before calling for the network to lose its license.

“They are not a ‘News Show,’” the president wrote, “but a dishonest Political Operative simply disguised as ‘News,’ and must be responsible for what they have done, and are doing.”

SUMY, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles struck the heart of the Ukrainian city of Sumy as people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, killing at least 34 people, officials said, in the second large-scale attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week.

The two ballistic missiles hit around 10:15 a.m., officials said. Images from the scene showed lines of black body bags on the side of the road, while more bodies were seen wrapped in foil blankets among the debris. Video footage also showed fire crews fighting to extinguish the shells of burned-out cars among the rubble from damaged buildings.

The dead included two children, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said in a statement. A further 117 people were wounded, including 15 children, it said.

“Only filthy scum can act like this — taking the lives of ordinary people,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. In a statement on social media, he said the first strike hit buildings belonging to a city university, while the second exploded above street level.

The head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andriy Yermak, said the strike also used cluster munitions in an attempt to kill as many people as possible. The Associated Press was unable to verify the claim.

The attack on Sumy followed a deadly April 4 missile strike on Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih that killed some 20 people, including nine children.

Zelenskyy called for a global response to the attack. “Talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and aerial bombs. What’s needed is an attitude toward Russia that a terrorist deserves,” he said.

Other world leaders also condemned the attack, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying that it undermined Washington-led peace talks between the two sides.

“Everyone knows: This war was initiated by Russia alone. And today, it is clear that Russia alone chooses to continue it — with blatant disregard for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts” of U.S. President Trump, he wrote in a statement.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, two women, ages 62 and 68, and a 48-year-old man were killed in Russian attacks on the Kherson region, local Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said. Another person was killed during Russian shelling on Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Gov. Vadym Filashkin said.

The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said a Russian strike hit one of the city’s kindergartens, shattering windows and damaging the building’s facade. No casualties were reported.

The strikes come a day after Russia and Ukraine’s senior diplomats accused each other of violating a tentative U.S.-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, underscoring the challenges of negotiating an end to the three-year war.

The two countries’ foreign ministers spoke at separate events at the annual Antalya Diplomacy Forum a day after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss peace prospects.

“The Ukrainians have been attacking us from the very beginning, every passing day, maybe with two or three exceptions,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, adding that Moscow would provide the U.S., Turkey and international bodies with a list of Kyiv’s attacks during the past three weeks.

His Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, contested that claim, saying Saturday that Russia had launched almost 70 missiles, over 2,200 exploding drones and more than 6,000 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine, “mostly at civilians” since agreeing to the limited pause on strikes.

Russian forces hold the advantage in Ukraine, and Kyiv has warned that Moscow is planning a fresh spring offensive to ramp up pressure on its foe and improve its negotiating position.

Ukraine has endorsed a broader U.S. ceasefire proposal, but Russia has effectively blocked it by imposing far-reaching conditions. European governments have accused Putin of dragging his feet.

Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said the Sumy attack crossed “any line of decency” and that the White House remained committed to ending the conflict.

“There are scores of civilian dead and wounded. As a former military leader, I understand targeting, and this is wrong,” he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the attack “horrifying” and said it offered “a tragic reminder” of why the administration was trying to end the war in favor of “a just and durable peace.”

Associated Press journalists Volodymr Yuchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Russia and Ukraine’s top diplomats on Saturday used a high-level conference in Turkey to once again trade accusations of violating a tentative U.S.-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, underscoring the challenges of negotiating an end to the 3-year-old war.

The two foreign ministers spoke at separate events at the annual Antalya Diplomacy Forum, a day after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss peace prospects. Ukraine’s European allies on Friday promised billions of dollars to help Kyiv keep fighting Russia’s invasion.

While Moscow and Kyiv both agreed in principle last month to implement a limited, 30-day ceasefire, they issued conflicting statements soon after their separate talks with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia. They differed on the start time of halting strikes, and alleged near-immediate breaches by the other side.

“The Ukrainians have been attacking us from the very beginning, every passing day, maybe with two or three exceptions,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, adding that Moscow would provide the U.S., Turkey and international bodies with a list of Kyiv’s attacks during the past three weeks.

A representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry separately told state media Saturday that Moscow has been sharing intelligence with the U.S. regarding more than 60 supposed breaches of the deal by Kyiv.

Lavrov on Saturday insisted Russia had stuck to the terms of the deal.

His Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, fiercely contested that claim, saying Russia had launched “almost 70 missiles, over 2,200 (exploding) drones, and over 6,000 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine, mostly at civilians,” since agreeing to the limited pause on strikes.

“This clearly shows to the world who wants peace and who wants war,” he said.

Russian forces hold the advantage in Ukraine, and Kyiv has warned Moscow is planning a fresh spring offensive to ramp up pressure on its foe and improve its negotiating position.

Ukraine has endorsed a broader U.S. ceasefire proposal, but Russia has effectively blocked it by imposing far-reaching conditions. European governments have accused Putin of dragging his feet.

“Russia has to get moving” on the road to ending the war, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media Friday. He said the war is “terrible and senseless.”

Lavrov on Saturday reiterated that a prospective U.S.-backed agreement, also discussed in Saudi Arabia, to ensure safe navigation for commercial vessels in the Black Sea could not be implemented until restrictions are lifted on Russian access to shipping insurance, docking ports and international payment systems.

Details of the prospective deal were not released, but it appeared to mark another attempt to ensure safe Black Sea shipping after a 2022 agreement that was brokered by the U.N. and Turkey but halted by Russia the following year.

A Russian journalist who worked for the state-run television network Channel One was reportedly killed after her car struck an “enemy mine” in the western Belgorod region, near the Ukrainian border.

Military correspondent Anna Prokofieva, 35, was mourned in a Wednesday statement from her employer, which said she “died while performing her professional duty.”

According to the pro-Kremlin outlet, the explosion also seriously wounded her colleague, cameraman Dmitry Volkov.

Prokofieva had been covering the war since 2023 and was known for sharing stylish images of herself from the combat zones she covered.

In her final social media post on Telegram, shared Tuesday, she posed in military fatigues and a head-mounted camera, captioning the image: “Somewhere on the border with country 404.” The phrase, a reference to the “404 file not found” webpage error, has been adopted by pro-Russian military bloggers as a derogatory term for Ukraine.

Following reports of Prokofieva’s death, which has not been independently verified, Kremlin foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Ukrainian forces of deliberately targeting Russian journalists in direct violation of international law.

“Journalists could die en masse in connection with a natural disaster,” Zakharova said in a statement quoted by The Telegraph. “Today this natural disaster is called the ‘terrorist Kiev regime.’”

Prokofieva’s death comes amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Kyiv had recently launched a series of small-scale attacks on Belgorod, believed to be an attempt to relieve pressure on the separate Russian border region of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces are in the midst of a reported retreat.

The journalist’s death also coincides with fragile ceasefire agreements between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea region. While both nations signed separate deals with the United States on Tuesday, each has accused the other of violating the terms.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The United States said an agreement has been reached to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea as it wrapped up three days of talks Tuesday with Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Saudi Arabia on prospective steps toward peace.

U.S. experts met separately with Ukrainian and Russian representatives in Riyadh, and the White House issued separate joint statements about the talks with Ukraine and Russia. It said the sides have “agreed to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea.”

Details of the prospective deal are yet to be released, but it appears to mark a revival of a 2022 agreement to ensure safe transit via Ukraine’s Black Sea ports that was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey and was halted by Russia the following year. Russia had said the agreement failed to ensure safety of its Black Sea exports.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in televised comments Tuesday that Moscow is open to the revival of the agreement but warned that Russian interests must be protected.

In an apparent reference to the Russian demands, the White House statement on the talks with Russia noted that the U.S. “will help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions.”

The White House statement also mentioned that the parties agreed to develop measures for implementing an agreement reached in President Donald Trump’s calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to ban strikes against energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine.

After the Trump-Putin call last week, the White House said the partial ceasefire would include ending attacks on “energy and infrastructure,” while the Kremlin declared that the agreement referred more narrowly to “energy infrastructure.”

Meanwhile, a Kremlin official said Tuesday that the talks between U.S. and Russian officials in Riyadh the previous day would likely lead to further contacts between Washington and Moscow, but that no concrete plans have yet been made.

The three days of meetings — which did not include direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations — are part of an attempt to hammer out details on a partial pause in the 3-year-old war in Ukraine. It has been a struggle to reach even a limited, 30-day ceasefire — which Moscow and Kyiv agreed to in principle last week ― with both sides continuing to attack each other with drones and missiles.

On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the the outcome of the U.S-Russia talks in Riyadh “has been reported in the capitals” and was currently being “analyzed” by Moscow and Washington, but that the Kremlin has no plans to release further details of what was discussed to the public.

“We’re talking about technical negotiations, negotiations with immersion in details,” Peskov said, adding that while there are currently no plans for Trump and Putin to speak, such a conversation could be quickly organized if the need arises.

“There is an understanding that the contacts will continue, but there is nothing concrete at the moment,” Peskov said. He added that that there are no plans to hold a three-way meeting between Russia, the U.S. and Ukraine.

Senior Russian lawmaker Grigory Karasin, who took part in the Russia-U.S. talks in Riyadh on Monday, told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that the conversation was “very interesting, difficult, but quite constructive.”

“We were at it all day from morning until late at night,” Karasin was quoted by the agency as saying on Tuesday.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that Ukraine had “continued deliberate drone strikes against Russia’s civilian energy facilities.”

One Ukrainian drone attack on Monday knocked down a high-voltage power line linking the Rostov nuclear power plant with the city of Tikhoretsk in the southern Krasnodar region, the ministry said, adding that another drone strike had occurred on the Svatovo gas distribution station in the Russia-occupied Ukrainian region of Luhansk.

“Zelenskyy confirms his inability to observe agreements and makes it impossible for outside guarantors of any potential agreements to control him,” the ministry said.

In Ukraine, the number of people injured Monday in a Russian missile strike on the center of the city of Sumy rose to 101 people including 23 children, according to the Sumy regional administration.

The strike on Sumy, across the border from Russia’s Kursk region which was partially occupied by Ukraine since August, hit residential buildings and a school, which had to be evacuated due to the attack.

Meanwhile, Russian forces launched one ballistic missile and 139 long-range strike and decoy drones into Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force. Those attacks affected seven regions of Ukraine and injured multiple people.

Associated Press writer Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss details of the American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Ukraine, asking him to convey Moscow’s thoughts to Washington, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

Putin asked Witkoff late Thursday to give additional messages to U.S. President Donald Trump, Peskov told reporters, after the Russian leader said at a news conference that he supported a truce in principle but set out a host of details that need to be clarified before it is agreed.

Trump said the U.S. held “very good and productive” discussions with Putin the day before. In a post on his Truth Social site Friday morning, Trump said “that there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end,” adding that Ukrainian troops are surrounded by the Russian military.

Ukraine, under severe military pressure on parts of the front line three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, has already endorsed the truce proposal. Russia’s army has gained battlefield momentum, and analysts say Putin likely will be reluctant to rush into a ceasefire while he feels he has an advantage. The Russian army, backed by North Korean troops, are now close to completely driving Ukrainian forces from their foothold in Russia’s Kursk border region in what would be a major setback for Kyiv.

Ukraine’s General Staff, however, denied Friday that its forces in Kursk are encircled by Moscow’s troops and said that any reports to that effect were “fabricated by the Russians for political manipulation and to exert pressure on Ukraine and its partners.”

A possible phone call between Putin and Trump to settle outstanding ceasefire issues could be arranged after Witkoff delivers the messages in Washington, Peskov said. “There is an understanding on both sides that such a call is needed,” Peskov said.

“There are certainly some grounds for cautious optimism,” Peskov said of the ceasefire proposal. “A lot still needs to be done, but the president has shown solidarity with President Trump’s position.”

U.S. officials have said Washington was set to discuss technical issues related to a possible ceasefire next week. Given the range of issues on the table, and the sharp differences between what Moscow and Kyiv want, it could potentially take weeks or months for the guns to fall silent.

Trump vowed during his election campaign to settle the war in 24 hours, but in January he changed that timeframe, voicing hope that peace could be negotiated in six months.

Putin’s apparently amicable tone toward the White House reflects the remarkable shift in U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine since Trump returned to office in January. Former President Joe Biden had sought to isolate Putin.

Trump has threatened both Russia and Ukraine with punitive measures if they don’t engage with his peace efforts.

Trump briefly cut off critical military aid and intelligence sharing in an apparent effort to push Kyiv to enter talks on ending the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a tense meeting at the White House on Feb. 28 in which Trump questioned whether Ukraine wanted to halt the war.

Trump has raised the possibility of tightening sanctions on Russia, though his administration has also repeatedly embraced Kremlin positions on the conflict, including indicating that Ukraine’s hopes of joining NATO are unlikely to be realized and that it probably will not get back the land that Russia’s army occupies, which amounts to nearly 20% of the country.

Meanwhile, Russian air defenses downed four Ukrainian drones attacking the Russian capital early Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. One damaged the roof of an apartment building a few kilometers (miles) from the Kremlin.

Several other buildings were lightly damaged by drone fragments, but there were no injuries, according to emergency officials.