Hard-Line Positions Suggest Progress Toward Peace Talks Is Far-Off: Live Updates - The New York Times

As the conflict for Ukraine turns into a bloody, mile-by-mile combat successful numbing cold, Ukrainian and Russian officials person insisted that they are consenting to sermon making peace. But it is progressively wide that some sides’ demands adjacent to commencement talks are flatly unacceptable to the other, starring American and European officials to reason that superior discussions connected ending the warfare are improbable successful the adjacent future.

There person been nary bid talks betwixt Ukraine and Russia since the aboriginal weeks of the conflict, which began erstwhile Russia launched a full-scale penetration connected Feb. 24. This week, Ukraine’s overseas minister, Dmytro Kuleba, detailed a proposal for a “peace” acme by the extremity of February, but told The Associated Press that Kyiv would negociate with Moscow lone if Russia archetypal faced a war-crimes tribunal.

Russia’s overseas minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, responded that Kyiv would person to judge Moscow’s demands — including giving up the 4 Ukrainian regions that Moscow claimed to person annexed successful September — oregon other “the Russian Army volition woody with this issue.”

The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said connected Wednesday that “there cannot beryllium a bid program for Ukraine that does not instrumentality into relationship today’s realities with Russian territory,” including the 4 annexed regions, according to the Interfax quality agency.

Stella Ghervas, a prof of Russian past astatine Newcastle University successful Britain, said that “the Ukrainian connection offers a glimpse astatine Ukraine’s imaginativeness of however the warfare with Russia could 1 time end.” But, she said, “Lavrov’s absorption is not precise promising, and it’s an indicator that a bid dialog could beryllium months and months away.”

The hard-line positions suggest that some sides judge they person much to summation militarily. Ukraine holds the battlefield momentum, having retaken overmuch of the onshore that Russia captured aboriginal successful the war, though Moscow’s forces inactive inhabit ample chunks of the eastbound and south. And Russia is pressing its ain advantage, readying much troops and launching aerial attacks connected infrastructure that person deepened Ukrainians’ misery adjacent arsenic Russia’s service struggles connected the ground.

Last month, addressing a acme of leaders of the Group of 20 nations, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine presented a wide-ranging 10-point bid program that called for the afloat withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, including Crimea and parts of the eastbound country known arsenic the Donbas that Russian forces seized opening successful 2014.

It besides demands an planetary tribunal to effort Russian warfare crimes; Moscow’s merchandise of each governmental prisoners and those forcibly deported during the war; compensation from Russia for warfare damages; and steps by the planetary assemblage to guarantee the information of Ukraine’s atomic powerfulness plants and supply for its nutrient and vigor security.

It is simply a overmuch tougher acceptable of requirements than Ukrainian negotiators initially offered astatine talks successful Istanbul a period aft Russia’s invasion, erstwhile they projected adopting neutral status — successful effect abandoning a bid to articulation NATO, which Russia has agelong opposed — successful speech for information guarantees from Western nations. Russian atrocities person multiplied since then, and the harm to Ukraine’s cities and its system has deepened. In August, Mykhailo Podolyak, a apical advisor to Mr. Zelensky, said that the model projected successful Istanbul was nary longer viable.

“The affectional inheritance successful Ukraine has changed very, precise much,” helium told the BBC. “We person seen excessively galore warfare crimes live.”

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said implicit the play that helium was prepared to negociate implicit “acceptable outcomes,” without specifying what those mightiness be, portion making wide that helium had nary volition of ending his attacks.

Western officials person dismissed Mr. Putin’s periodic offers to negociate arsenic bare gestures. Even arsenic Russia’s system reels nether Western sanctions — Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said connected Wednesday that the Russian system had contracted by 2 percent implicit the past 11 months, the Reuters quality bureau reported — Mr. Putin has emphasized that determination are “no limits” to Russia’s subject spending. This month, his defence curate ordered another enlargement of the equipped services by much than 300,000 members, to a people size of 1.5 million.

All of that suggests, said Marnie Howlett, a lecturer successful Russian and Eastern European authorities astatine the University of Oxford, that “there is not needfully a propulsion for a negotiated bid oregon adjacent immoderate benignant of negotiations, but inactive a propulsion for immoderate endgame is being sought militarily.”

Russian forces launched a rocket onslaught and astir 3 twelve rockets astatine Kherson implicit the past day, the Ukrainian subject said connected Wednesday, and officials called connected residents to evacuate the embattled confederate metropolis wherever Moscow has stepped up artillery strikes.

The strikes deed a maternity ward wherever astatine slightest 5 women were recovering aft giving birth, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the lawman caput of the Ukrainian president’s office. “Miraculously, nary 1 was hurt,” helium said.

Images shared by Mr. Tymoshenko connected Telegram, the societal messaging app, aft the onslaught connected Tuesday showed blown-out windows, a spread successful the extortion and piles of rubble successful 1 of the rooms.

Kherson has been battered by shelling since Ukraine retook the metropolis past month, with Russian forces utilizing caller antiaircraft positions connected the other slope of the Dnipro River to motorboat near-daily barrages astatine the city. At slightest 10 radical were killed successful the metropolis successful shelling connected Saturday, officials said.

On Tuesday, Ukraine’s Ministry of Reintegration renewed a plea for residents to permission Kherson, quoting Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk arsenic saying, “The force does not halt shelling.” The ministry, which helps negociate affairs successful onshore that had been occupied by Russia, said connected Facebook that astir 300 radical were departing Kherson each day connected an evacuation bid headed westbound to the metropolis of Khmelnytski. Most of them are older people, those with reduced mobility, women and children.

Passage connected the evacuation trains is escaped of charge, with the Ukrainian authorities urging civilians to permission regions of progressive warring and walk the wintertime successful safer areas to the northbound and east. The government has promised escaped structure and currency payments to those who heed the telephone to evacuate.

The toll of Russia’s warfare has continued to grow. The United Nations’ quality rights office, successful its latest tally of civilian casualties successful the war, said it had recorded the deaths of 6,884 radical successful Ukraine owed to warring arsenic of Monday. Nearly 11,000 radical had been wounded, the bureau said, portion emphasizing that successful some cases the existent figures were apt to beryllium “considerably higher.”

A affluent Russian businessman and lawmaker was recovered dormant aft seemingly falling from a edifice terrace successful India, soon aft different Russian nationalist helium was traveling with died astatine the aforesaid hotel, the Indian constabulary said connected Wednesday.

The 2 men — Pavel Antov, the laminitis of the Russian nutrient conglomerate Vladimir Standard; and Vladimir Budanov, his traveling companion — were portion of a tourer radical visiting the Rayagada territory successful the Indian authorities of Odisha, an country known for its temples.

Mr. Antov, who the Russian quality media said had criticized Russian shelling of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, is the latest Russian magnate to dice nether mysterious circumstances since Russia invaded Ukraine successful February.

Mr. Budanov, 61, died of cardiac apprehension astatine the edifice determination past week, and Mr. Antov, who had conscionable turned 65, fell from the hotel’s terrace and died implicit the weekend, said Rasmi Ranjani Pradhan, an inspector with the Odisha police. Hotel workers and the infirmary authorities alerted the constabulary to the deaths.

“Whether Mr. Antov’s decease is simply a termination is simply a substance of investigation,” Mr. Pradhan said. “The aesculapian study has termed it arsenic accidental.”

Local quality outlets, citing the police, reported that Mr. Antov had been recovered lying successful a excavation of humor extracurricular the hotel.

Mr. Antov topped the Forbes database of Russia’s richest civilian servants successful 2019 with a reported luck of astir 10 cardinal rubles, oregon implicit $140 cardinal astatine Tuesday’s speech rate. He was besides a subordinate of Parliament successful the Vladimir region, eastbound of Moscow.

The vice talker of the determination Parliament, Vyacheslav Kartukhin, said that Mr. Antov’s decease was the effect of tragic circumstances, the Russian authorities caller bureau TASS reported. The Parliament’s speaker, Vladimir Kiselyov, described Mr. Antov arsenic a antheral who had won everyone over.

The Odisha constabulary said connected Tuesday that the enquiry into the deaths of 2 Russians would beryllium handled by the Crime Investigation Department, a specialized subdivision of the police.

The Russian quality media reported successful June that Mr. Antov had criticized the shelling of residential areas successful Kyiv arsenic terrorism, though helium aboriginal appeared to recant his statement.

A post nether his name connected the Russian societal media level VKontakte said that the archetypal connection had been shared successful mistake and emphasized that Mr. Antov was a patriot and a protagonist of President Vladimir V. Putin.

Other salient Russian businessmen who person died abruptly successful caller months see the president of Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest lipid producer, which had called for an extremity to the war. The authorities quality media said that the executive, Ravil Maganov, had fallen from a sixth-floor infirmary model successful September.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said connected Tuesday that his authorities would prohibition Russian lipid exports to immoderate countries that agreed to the Western terms headdress enactment successful spot this month.

The announcement came successful the signifier of a decree, signed by Mr. Putin and released by the Kremlin, saying that, starting connected Feb. 1 and lasting for 5 months, nary Russian lipid would beryllium sent to countries that grant the terms cap.

“Deliveries of Russian lipid and lipid products to overseas entities and individuals are banned, connected the information that successful the contracts for these supplies, the usage of a maximum terms fixing mechanics is straight oregon indirectly envisaged,” the decree says, according to quality agencies’ translations.

The interaction of the determination was similar to beryllium limited. The European Union, the portion that is astir babelike connected Russian oil, has already banned astir Russian lipid imports, truthful the headdress chiefly affects buyers extracurricular Europe.

After months of negotiations, the Group of 7 affluent antiauthoritarian nations — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — and the European Union agreed astatine the opening of December to headdress the terms of Russian crude lipid astatine $60 per barrel. The determination was aimed astatine weakening the Kremlin’s revenues and diminishing its financing for the warfare successful Ukraine, without wholly disrupting planetary supply astatine a clip of soaring inflation.

However, the headdress is acceptable adjacent to Russia’s existing selling price, and immoderate countries — similar Poland, Ukraine’s neighbour — argued that it did not marque overmuch of a quality to the Kremlin. The headdress is to beryllium reviewed each 2 months.

The Kremlin’s defiant effect to the headdress connected Tuesday was somewhat anticipated, since Moscow had already insisted that it would not merchantability lipid taxable to a terms limit.

A Russian lawman premier minister, Alexander Novak, said this period that Russia was “working connected mechanisms” to undermine enforcement of the cap, without elaborating.

“We volition merchantability lipid and lipid products lone to countries that volition enactment with america connected marketplace conditions, adjacent if we would person to little production,” Mr. Novak said connected Rossiya-24, a Russian authorities quality network.

Even nether a heavy coating of snow, the graveyard for Russian soldiers killed successful the warfare successful Ukraine is awash successful color. Graves are heaped with wreaths of integrative flowers and, astatine each mound, flags representing the dormant soldier’s portion whip successful the wind.

On a caller Saturday, a pistillate named Natalia grasped a brushwood and cautiously swept clumps of sticky caller snowfall disconnected her son’s wreaths. She removed the reddish carnations she had brought the week before, present frozen, replacing them with a tiny Christmas histrion she had purchased astatine the cemetery entrance.

Natalia comes astatine slightest erstwhile a week to attraction for the sedate of her lone son, who was killed successful the archetypal days of the warfare aft his radical of soldiers swept into Ukraine and tried and failed to unafraid the Hostomel airfield, adjacent Kyiv. What was near of his assemblage arrived successful Ryazan respective weeks later.

“Even erstwhile I’m sick, I travel here, due to the fact that I interest he’s going to beryllium bored,” she said of her son, whose remains arrived conscionable shy of his 26th birthday. She declined to supply her surname, fearing retribution for speaking out.

Many Western opponents of Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine expected that mothers similar Natalia would go the backbone of a surge of outrage against President Vladimir V. Putin and germinate into a governmental unit opposing him. But 10 months into the conflict, that has not happened connected a ample standard — and surely not successful Ryazan, a metropolis of fractional a cardinal radical known for its elite paratrooper unit.

Natalia said she thought the penetration “should person been planned better” to minimize losses, but she expressed nary choler astatine Russia’s leadership. “Something had to beryllium done,” she said, referring to Ukraine.

That benignant of continued enactment has been a important origin successful Mr. Putin’s quality to debar immoderate important home blowback to his war, allowing him to treble down connected his committedness to prosecute his goals successful Ukraine successful the look of a bid of setbacks.

An American limb that was first dropped by stealth bombers implicit Kosovo successful 1999 and past during combat successful the post-9/11 wars volition soon beryllium utilized by Ukrainian pilots flying Russian-made jets to termination Russian soldiers.

The weapon, called the Joint Direct Attack Munition, consists of a kit that turns a inexpensive unguided weaponry into a highly accurate, GPS-guided weapon. It is usually referred to arsenic JDAM (pronounced JAY-dam).

The Biden medication said this week that the weapons would beryllium portion of a caller $1.85 cardinal subject assistance package, giving Kyiv a precision-guided bombing capableness it has ne'er had.

When dropped from higher altitudes, the weaponry tin question astir 15 miles to its people earlier exploding.

What are these weapons?

Technically speaking, JDAM refers to a kit that is bolted onto the U.S. military’s wide intent Mark-80-series weaponry and turns it into a GPS-guided weapon.

The Mark-80 warhead, which was developed soon aft World War II, was designed to beryllium easy fitted with a assortment of process fins and fuzes for usage successful a scope of situations. Over decades, antithetic attachments person been fielded — for low-level bombing, and to crook them into onshore and oversea mines, and yet into assorted types of guided weapons.

The Mark-80 warhead was designed conscionable aft World War II arsenic a modular limb that could beryllium fitted with antithetic kinds of process fins and fuzes, and was streamlined truthful that it created little resistance erstwhile carried by supersonic jets. It typically comes successful 3 sizes, ranging from 500 to 2,000 pounds. Which exemplary oregon models volition beryllium provided to Ukraine is unclear.

Where did they travel from?

JDAM was calved retired of the vexation that pilots and Air Force leaders had with a antithetic benignant of guided weaponry during Operation Desert Storm successful 1991.

First utilized successful tiny numbers toward the extremity of the Vietnam War, that weaponry was called the Paveway II. At the time, the thought was considered revolutionary: An costly kit fixed to the chemoreceptor and process of a Mark-80 could marque the different unguided weaponry maneuverable on the way of a laser shone from the crushed oregon from a level above. But successful Iraq, sandstorms and fume often disrupted the way of the laser beams, causing the weaponry to miss its target.

Months aft that warfare ended, the Air Force decided that subject pilots needed a kit that would not outgo much than Paveway II and could usher bombs successful each upwind conditions. A caller constellation of GPS satellites offered a solution, continuously beaming vigor signals that could usher bombs nighttime and day, rainfall oregon shine.

Air Force leaders accelerated enactment connected a akin instrumentality to nutrient what yet became JDAMs, which are present made by Boeing astatine a mill successful St. Charles, Mo.

Eric Schmitt contributed reporting.

More than 15 years ago, erstwhile the Nord Stream state pipeline betwixt Russia and Germany was small much than an idea, a Swedish authorities survey warned of the risks inherent successful moving a captious portion of vigor infrastructure on the Baltic Sea floor.

The pipeline would beryllium susceptible to adjacent the astir rudimentary signifier of sabotage, analysts wrote. The 2007 study, written by the Swedish Defense Research Agency, adjacent posited a scenario: “One diver would beryllium capable to acceptable an explosive device.”

Today, European investigators look astir precisely that scenario. The Swedish authorities starring a transgression probe person concluded that a authorities histrion was astir apt liable for a September blast that ripped done the state pipes. Officials and experts accidental that explosives were probably dropped from ships oregon — conscionable arsenic the Swedish study warned — planted connected the seafloor utilizing submarines oregon divers.

The Nord Stream onslaught has been a wartime mystery, prompting finger-pointing and speculation astir how a vas could creep up connected a important vigor conduit, works a weaponry and permission without a trace.

Russia has a past of utilizing vigor to exert power and has an involvement successful fracturing alliances wrong Europe. But the mentation that Russia carried retired the blasts, repeated often by Western officials, has gotten much complicated.

In caller weeks, Nord Stream AG, which is majority-owned by a Kremlin-controlled company, has begun pricing retired the outgo to repair the tube and reconstruct state flow, according to a idiosyncratic briefed connected the enactment who spoke connected information of anonymity due to the fact that helium was not authorized to talk astir it publicly. Consultants for Russia are besides studying however agelong the damaged pipes tin withstand saltwater exposure. The inquiries rise the question of why, if Russia bombed its ain pipelines, it would statesman the costly enactment of repairing them.