Sawt Falasteen - US envoy visits Ukraine on independence day as peace efforts stall

Ukraine launched a wave of drone strikes on Russia on Sunday, triggering a fire at a nuclear power plant as Ukrainians marked their independence day against a backdrop of a grinding conflict now in its fourth year.

After a flurry of diplomacy and a push by US President Donald Trump to broker a summit between his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, hopes for peace dimmed when Russia on Friday ruled out any immediate meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western countries on Sunday of looking "for a pretext to block negotiations" and slammed Zelensky for "demanding an immediate meeting at all costs" with Putin.

On Friday, Lavrov said "no meeting" between Putin and Zelensky was planned.

Zelensky for his part said Russia was "trying to wriggle out of holding a meeting".

"Together, Ukrainians and our partners, we are working to push Russia to peace. And it is possible," Zelensky said at independence day celebrations attended by Kellogg and other Western officials.

Zelensky also awarded the US envoy with the Ukrainian Order of Merit at the ceremony.

The war, which has killed tens of thousands of people, is largely stalemated, though Russia has managed to eke out recent advances in its offensive -- including claiming two villages in the eastern Donetsk region Saturday.

Ukraine hit back Sunday by sending drones on fresh attacks on Russian territory, including one that was shot down over the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in western Russia, which detonated upon impact and sparked a fire, according to the facility.

The plant said the fire had been extinguished, adding there were no casualties or increased radiation levels.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned of the dangers of fighting around nuclear plants following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russian authorities said Ukrainian drones had also been shot down over areas sometimes far from the front, including Saint Petersburg in the northwest.

Ten drones were shot down over the port of Ust-Luga on the Gulf of Finland, sparking a fire at a fuel terminal owned by Russian energy group Novatek, regional governor Aleksandr Drozdenko wrote on Telegram.

Ukraine's outgunned army has relied heavily on drones to respond to Russia's invasion, notably targeting oil infrastructure to hit a key source of Moscow's revenues to fund the war.

Russia has seen soaring fuel prices since the attacks began.

Ukraine meanwhile said Russia had attacked it overnight with a ballistic missile and 72 Iranian-made Shahed attack drones, 48 of which the air force said had been shot down.

A Russian drone strike killed a 47-year-old woman in the eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk, the governor said.

- 'Ukraine is a fighter' -

The latest fighting came as Ukraine marked the anniversary of gaining independence in 1991 in the break-up of the Soviet Union.

"This is how Ukraine strikes when its calls for peace are ignored," Zelensky said in an independence day address.

"Today, both the US and Europe agree: Ukraine has not yet fully won, but it will certainly not lose. Ukraine has secured its independence. Ukraine is not a victim; it is a fighter."

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in Kyiv for the commemorations, called for "a just and lasting peace for Ukraine".

Zelensky thanked other world leaders including Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron, King Charles and the pope for sending messages to mark the occasion.

Norway on Sunday said it would contribute seven billion kroner ($700 million) as part of its pledge to, together with Germany, provide Ukraine with two complete US Patriot systems that Germany already possesses.

The systems are currently located in Germany and will be delivered to Ukraine "as soon as possible", the Norwegian government said in a statement.

The United States will replace the donated systems, and Norway will contribute financially to their replacement from its multi-year aid package for Ukraine.

Russia now controls around a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.

The fighting has forced millions of people to flee their homes and destroyed cities and villages across the east and south of Ukraine.

Putin has repeatedly rebuffed calls from Ukraine and the West for an unconditional and immediate ceasefire.

Q.Najjar--SF-PST