Ukraine Drone Strike Hits Russian Black Sea Port Amid Peace Talks
A Ukrainian drone strike ignited fires at a Russian Black Sea port on Sunday, wounding at least two people, as diplomats prepare for a new round of U.S.-brokered peace talks aimed at ending the nearly four-year-old war. The attack on the port of Taman in the Krasnodar region damaged an oil storage tank, warehouse and terminals, according to regional Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev.
The strike comes as both sides prepare for negotiations scheduled to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva. This week’s session will be the first held on European soil, and occurs shortly before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24th.
While falling debris from Russian drones caused damage to civilian and transport infrastructure in Ukraine’s Odesa region, disrupting power and water supplies, Ukraine continues to target Russian energy sites with long-range drone strikes. These attacks aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue needed to fund its invasion, officials say.
Governor Kondratyev stated that over 100 people are working to extinguish several fires at the port. He also reported that strikes hit the resort city of Sochi and the village of Yurovka, though the damage there was less significant.
Concerns Over Security Guarantees
The attacks precede a fresh attempt at diplomacy, but optimism remains low. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, voiced concerns about future security guarantees for his country. He also questioned the feasibility of a U.S.-proposed free trade zone in the Donbas region, which Russia insists Ukraine relinquish for peace.
Zelenskyy indicated that the U.S. Seeks a swift resolution and wants to sign all agreements simultaneously, while Ukraine prioritizes securing guarantees for its future security first. “The Americans want peace as quickly as possible and that the U.S. Team wants to sign all the agreements on Ukraine at the same time, whereas Ukraine wants guarantees for the country’s future security signed first,” Zelenskyy reportedly said.
These concerns were echoed by U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who warned that without robust security guarantees, the cycle of conflict could repeat itself. “Unless we have real security guarantees on whatever peace agreement is ultimately determined, we are going to be here again, because one of the things we know is that Russia has geared up not just for Ukraine, but to go beyond Ukraine,” Shaheen told reporters in Munich.
European Perspective
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas suggested Russia is attempting to achieve through diplomacy what it has failed to accomplish on the battlefield, hoping for concessions from the U.S. However, Kallas emphasized that key Russian demands, such as lifting sanctions and unfreezing assets, are decisions for Europe to make. “If we want a sustainable peace then we need concessions also from the Russian side,” she stated at the Munich conference.
Previous U.S.-led efforts to broker a ceasefire, including two rounds of talks in Abu Dhabi, have not yielded significant breakthroughs, particularly regarding the future of Ukraine’s Donbas region, which remains largely occupied by Russian forces. The current situation underscores the deep-seated challenges facing negotiators as they attempt to find a path toward a lasting resolution to the conflict.
