Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky hits back after Rubio claims conflict at ‘dangerous stalemate’

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Marco Rubio’s assessment that the war in Ukraine is in a stalemate is correct, said a spokesman for the Kremlin on Thursday.

Hours after the US secretary of state had said there was currently “no prospect of a negotiated settlement” between Ukraine and Russia , Dmitry Peskov told agency reporters that he agreed with him.

"The art of diplomacy precisely ​involves ⁠finding some way out that ‌would allow moving onto a peaceful track," Mr Peskov was quoted as saying.

US envoys Steve Witkoff ‌and Jared Kushner will meet Ukrainian ‌representatives on Friday in Miami to discuss new ideas and try to produce a unified proposal for resolving ⁠the war, an American source familiar with the plan said on Thursday.

In Kramatorsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, 30 people were killed when a Russian-guided bomb exploded next to public buses.

"There is no doubt that Russia is cynically targeting civilians," Oleksandr Honcharenko, head of the city's military administration, said.

Meanwhile, local authorities in Russia’s border region of Belgorod said two people died when a Ukrainian drone struck a car.

Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine expected Kyiv's European partners to join talks with the US in coming ⁠days.

Zelenskiy earlier said that Ukraine's negotiators would hold talks in the United States on Friday and Saturday as part of efforts led ⁠by the United States ​to ⁠seek a settlement of the war with Russia.

The president, speaking ⁠to reporters in Kyiv, said Ukrainian negotiators would ​raise ⁠the issue of ‌air defences in light of near-constant Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities. More than ‌70 have been killed in strikes ‌over the past two days.

Zelenskiy also said Ukraine had "mirrored" Russian attacks on data centres, referring ⁠to a strike on a centre operated by Russian technology company Yandex.

"We always respond in mirror-like fashion," Zelenskiy said. "You all know, they have been hitting and continue to hit our data centres. We are ‌responding. I can't share all the ​details."

Russian technology and AI company ‌Yandex said on ⁠Thursday it could not yet determine whether ⁠equipment at a data centre hit by a Ukrainian ‌drone ​attack could be restored.