Ukraine’s head of intelligence Kyrylo Budanov, as well as the chief of staff of Ukraine’s armed forces, Andrii Hnatov, are also part of the delegation sent to the U.S. for Sunday’s talks.
The Ukrainian capital, meanwhile, suffered another Russian drone and missile attack in the early hours of Saturday, local officials said. At least two people were killed.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said another 29 people were wounded, noting that falling debris from intercepted Russian drones hit residential buildings. He also said the western part of Kyiv had lost power. More than 600,000 people in the Kyiv region were without power on Saturday morning, the BBC reported.
More than 30 missiles and about 600 drones were launched at targets across Ukraine overnight, officials said.
Meanwhile, two oil tankers said to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that evade sanctions were struck off Turkey’s Black Sea coast, a senior Turkish official said Saturday. The tankers Kairos and Virat were struck in quick succession Friday evening, prompting rescue operations, according to media reports.
Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said rescue services first received reports that the Kairos may have hit a mine before being told of an explosion on the Virat.
“Our crews indicate that there were explosions on the other ship and that these were also caused by external interference,” Uraloglu told broadcaster NTV early Saturday. “The first things that come to mind for external interference could be a mine, a missile, a marine vessel or a drone. We don’t have definitive information on this,” he said.
Reuters reported that Ukrainian forces hit the two tankers, citing an official from Kyiv’s SBU security service. The joint operation to hit the vessels was run by the SBU and Ukraine’s navy, the official told the wire service.
