Ukraine and Russia: Who's Really Stalling the Peace Process?

Ukraine and Russia are pointing fingers at each other. They are accusing each other of breaking a deal to stop hitting energy targets. This happened at a big meeting in Turkey. Both sides want to end the war, which has been going on for three years. They had a chance to talk about it with a U. S. official in Moscow. Ukraine's friends in Europe also promised lots of money to help them keep fighting. Both countries said they would stop fighting for 30 days. But they had different ideas about when to start and accused each other of breaking the deal right away. Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Ukraine has been attacking them since the start. He promised to share proof with the U. S. and others. Meanwhile, Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Russia has been launching lots of missiles and drones at them, mostly at civilians. Russia is in a stronger position in Ukraine. Kyiv thinks Moscow is planning a big attack soon to gain an advantage. Ukraine wants a bigger ceasefire, but Russia has conditions that make it hard. European countries think Russia is taking too long to end the war. The U. S. president even said Russia needs to "get moving. " Lavrov also talked about a deal to make the Black Sea safer for ships. He said it can't happen until Russia can use international services again. This is another attempt to keep ships safe after a deal from last year was stopped by Russia. In other news, Ukraine lost another F-16 fighter jet. The pilot, 26-year-old Pavlo Ivanov, died. Ukraine's president sent his condolences and promised a strong response. This is the second F-16 lost since they started getting them from Western allies last July. Meanwhile, Russian drones killed at least two people in Ukraine's southern Kherson region.