Russia Accuses Ukraine of Trying to Derail Peace Talks

Moscow fired fewer drones at Ukraine overnight into Tuesday but strikes still damaged buildings in northern Sumy

- Agence France-Presse

MOSCOW: Russia said on Tuesday that its massive aerial assaults on Ukraine in recent days were a "response" to escalating Ukrainian drone strikes on its own civilians, accusing Kyiv of trying to "disrupt" peace efforts.

Moscow fired hundreds of drones at Ukraine between late Friday and early Monday, killing more than a dozen people and saturating the country's air defenses. US President Donald Trump, who has been seeking to broker an end to Moscow's three-year invasion, said Vladimir Putin had "gone absolutely CRAZY" and threatened Russia with sanctions over the attacks.

Diplomatic efforts to end the war have accelerated in recent weeks, with Russian and Ukrainian officials holding direct talks for the first time in three years earlier this month but the Kremlin has shown no signs of scaling back its maximalist demands.