Sawt Falasteen - Zelensky meets Vance as Russian drones pound Ukraine

"We discussed the talks in Istanbul, where the Russians sent a low-level delegation with no decision-making powers," Zelensky wrote on Telegram following the meeting with Vance.

That took place at the US ambassador's residence in Rome -- the Villa Taverna -- after the two of them attended Pope Leo's inaugural mass in the Vatican.

"We also touched on the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defence cooperation, the situation on the battlefield and the future exchange of prisoners," Zelensky added.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Zelensky's aide Andriy Yermak were also present at the meeting, where the two sides discussed steps towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.

A senior Ukrainian official from the president's office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Zelensky and Vance also discussed preparations for Monday's telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The official said that the encounter went "better" than the Oval Office row three months ago, when Vance publically accused Zelensky of being "disrespectful" towards Trump, who fuelled the row by telling the Ukrainian leader he should be more "thankful" and that he had no "cards" to play in negotiations with Russia

Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska were earlier granted an audience with Leo following his inauguration.

"We thank the Vatican for its willingness to become a platform for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia," Ukraine's leader said after meeting the pontiff.

"The martyred Ukraine is waiting for negotiations for a just and lasting peace to finally happen," Leo XIV said during his inauguration.

- 'Record' drone barrage -

Ukraine on Sunday said that Russia had launched a record number of drones at the country overnight, targeting various regions, including that of the capital Kyiv, where a woman was killed. Another man was killed in the southeastern Kherson region.

The attacks came only two days after the first direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years, which failed to produce a truce.

Putin said in an interview released on Sunday that his focus was on eradicating what he called the root causes of the Ukraine conflict and guaranteeing Russia's security.

The Ukrainian air force said that Russia had launched "273 Shahed attack drones and various types of imitator drones", of which 88 were destroyed and 128 more went astray "without negative consequences".

Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said it was a "record" number of drones. "Russia has a clear goal -- to continue killing civilians," she said.

The Russian military said it had intercepted 25 Ukrainian drones overnight and on Sunday morning. Moscow also claimed it had captured Bahatyr, another village in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, as it intensifies the war effort despite the Istanbul peace talks.

- 'Root causes' -

In his interview with Russian state TV, Putin said Moscow's aim was to "eliminate the causes that triggered this crisis, create the conditions for a lasting peace and guarantee Russia's security", without elaborating further.

Russia's references to the "root causes" of the conflict typically refer to alleged grievances with Kyiv and the West that Moscow has put forward as justification for launching the invasion in February 2022.

They include pledges to "de-Nazify" and demilitarise Ukraine, protect Russian speakers in the country's east, push back against NATO expansion and stop Ukraine's westward geopolitical drift.

Kyiv and the West say that Russia's invasion is nothing more than an imperial-style land grab.

Tens of thousands have been killed since Russia started the war, with millions forced to flee their homes.

Friday's talks in Turkey led to an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each.

Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday that he would speak by phone with Putin on Monday in order to stop the "BLOODBATH" in Ukraine.

E.Qaddoumi--SF-PST