Ukraine war latest: 'Massive' attack among latest strikes - as talks with US and Russia enter second day

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also been commenting on media reports that late billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was working for Russian special services.

Peskov insisted that such statements could not be taken seriously.

He added that he would "like to joke a lot about such" claims.

We return now to the discussion surrounding the expiration today of the New START nuclear weapons treaty (see 9.00 post).

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has been commenting on the matter during his daily briefing, saying: "We assess this negatively and express our regret in this regard. Our initiative to maintain the existing limits for another year, even after the expiration of this document, has remained unanswered.

"Yesterday, this topic was indeed mentioned in terms of the negative consequences for the international system of control over nuclear weapons and strategic stability."

He referred to China's stance that it will not be part of any nuclear disarmament talks because, Beijing claims, its nuclear forces are not comparable with those of the US and Russia.

"We respect this position," Peskov said.

"As for what comes next, everything will depend on how events develop. 

"In any case, the Russian Federation will maintain its responsible and attentive approach to issues of strategic stability in the field of nuclear weapons and, as always, will be guided first and foremost by its national interests."

Russian media is citing a French source as saying France's President Emmanuel Macron plans to call Vladimir Putin, but that significant planning is required in advance.

State news agency TASS quoted the source as saying: "Preparing for a meaningful conversation will take more than a day, definitely several days. The French leader is focused on results."

It was previously reported by L'Express magazine that Macron's diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne was in Moscow this week to meet with Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov.

Macron said in December that it was time for Europe to resume dialogue with Russia, saying the fact that existing negotiations on Ukraine involved the US discussing the terms of a settlement with Russia without the Europeans, "is not optimal."

The last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States has expired today - removing any caps on the world's two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than half a century.

The end of the New Start Treaty could set the stage for what many fear could be an unconstrained nuclear arms race.

Vladimir Putin last year declared readiness to stick to the treaty's limits for another year if Washington agreed, but Donald Trump has been noncommittal about extending it.

Putin discussed the pact's expiration with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said, noting Washington had not responded to his proposed extension.

Russia "will act in a balanced and responsible manner based on thorough analysis of the security situation", Ushakov said.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement last night that "under the current circumstances, we assume that the parties to the New Start Treaty are no longer bound by any obligations or symmetrical declarations within the context of the treaty, including its core provisions, and are fundamentally free to choose their next steps".

New Start, signed in 2010 by then-US president Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, restricted each side to no more than 1,550 nuclear warheads on no more than 700 missiles and bombers - deployed and ready for use.

It was originally supposed to expire in 2021 but was extended for five more years.

Read more on the story below:

As we touched upon a little earlier, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shared an insight into today's trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi after receiving a report by Ukraine's delegation.

"We discussed the interim results of the negotiations," he says on Telegram.

"They will continue tomorrow. There will also be a significant step: we expect an exchange of prisoners of war in the near future." 

Zelenskyy adds that the prisoners "need to return" to Ukraine before stating Kyiv's position that "the war must be ended realistically".

"It is Russia that must be ready for this. And the partners must also be ready to ensure this realistically with their real guarantees - security guarantees - with their real pressure on the aggressor," he adds. 

"And so that now it is felt - so that people in Ukraine feel it - that the situation is really moving towards peace, towards the end of the war, and not towards the fact that the Russians will use everything to their advantage and continue to strike."

The notion that Ukraine would have to give something up to end the war that Russia started has existed ever since US President Donald Trump started trying to kickstart a peace deal.

NATO chief Mark Rutte - who has developed a reputation as a so-called "Trump whisperer" - seemed to emphasise the point during a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday when he warned ending the conflict will require tough choices.

The current Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, including most of the eastern Donbas region, are a key point of discussion at the ongoing. trilateral talks. 

Asked whether this could mean Ukraine will be expected to withdraw from the Donbas on his weekly Q&A, our military analyst Michael Clarke said: "I don't think so.

"There was nothing in that [Rutte's] statement that I saw which indicated any softening of his line, and he was bound to say that sort of thing.

"Privately he might be saying to them 'You're going to have to give a bit more', but if he is saying that I don't think they'll accept it."

Clarke added: "The only possibility I could think of is that maybe Rutte might have made some off-the-cuff comment that he wanted to be picked up by the White House, to show that he is doing all he can to support American thinking about the peace negotiations."

Watch the full episode of yesterday's Q&A...

Vladimir Putin's envoy has hailed progress in negotiations on a Ukraine peace deal, as the US-brokered talks resumed today.

"We see that there is certainly progress and good, positive movement forward," Kirill Dmitriev said.

Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov said Ukraine and Russia had begun a second day of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi.

"We are working in the same formats as yesterday: trilateral consultations, group work and further synchronisation of positions," he said.

Russia is said to have carried out a "massive" drone attack on railway infrastructure in Ukraine's northern Sumy region.

Deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba said the railway's energy infrastructure was also targeted, and posted photos of damaged railway cars.

"The enemy is trying to stop train traffic," Kuleba added describing the attack as "another act of terrorism" against Ukrainian logistics.

Blackouts across Ukraine could worsen in the coming ‌days, its energy minister has warned, as Moscow's attacks continue to cripple its energy infrastructure. 

"The situation with energy remains very difficult. There is a risk ‍that timetables for power cuts could get worse," Denys Shmyhal said on Telegram after a daily meeting of senior officials.

"This ‌is linked to the last strike and the fact that the shortfalls in generation ‌in the power system are still significant. And the Russians are preparing for new attacks on the ​energy sector in the coming week." 

Kyiv's mayor Vitali ​Klitschko said on Tuesday that more than ​1,100 buildings in Kyiv remained without heating, while prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko said 217 Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy system had been recorded since the beginning of the ‌year. 

Recent Russian strikes included attacks targeting the Darnytsia Thermal Power Plant in Kyiv, with workers pictured urgently trying to repair the damage on site yesterday.

While talks continue in the Middle East, Ukraine continues to suffer casualties back at home.

Two people were injured in Kyiv after residential buildings were struck in Russian drone strikes overnight, mayor ​Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

A third person was also hurt ​in the wider Kyiv region.

Ukraine's ⁠Air Force said Russia ‌launched two ballistic missiles ‍and 183 drones at Ukraine overnight, with air defences managing to shoot down 156 drones.

The latest attacks come despite Donald Trump's announcement last week that Russia had agreed not to target Kyiv and "various towns" during its current freezing temperatures, but did not clarify for how long.