Russian attacks kill six in Ukraine, officials say

Six people have been killed in Russian attacks on four Ukrainian regions in the past 24 hours, local authorities say. They say that in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia two people died when a drone hit a residential house on Saturday. Eight people, including two children, were injured. In the nearby Dnipropetrovsk region, two people were killed and five injured. Authorities in the eastern Donetsk and southern Kherson regions each reported one death. This comes as Ukrainian and US teams are continuing their talks on how to end Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine - the first such negotiations since Israel and America launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran last month. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants his negotiators to discuss the US decision to ease sanctions on Russian oil - implemented by Washington to help keep down global energy prices. On Saturday, the first day of the talks in Florida, Ukrainian negotiators met Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and the US president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. "It is important for all of us across the world that diplomacy continues and we're trying to stop this war," Zelensky said in his late-night video address. "The most important thing is to understand how prepared Russia is for moving towards really ending the war and how prepared they are to do this honestly and decently. This is particularly important given that because of the Iran situation geopolitical problems have only got worse." After further talks on Sunday, Zelensky said it was clear that US attention was focused on Iran, but said "this war of Russia against Ukraine must also be brought to an end". He said it is "important to ensure that the aggressor is not rewarded for this war" and that there are security guarantees for Ukraine and all of Europe so that "none of us is forced to return to war in a few months or years". Several rounds of talks mediated by the US have so far failed to stop the fighting in Ukraine or change Russia's maximalist demands, and there is little hope of a breakthrough. A friend of one of the victims of the drone attack in Zaporizhzhia told the Reuters news agency: "I stopped believing long ago. When will this all just end? When will they finally reach an agreement? "How long can they keep negotiating? Just give it to the Russian side so hard that it hurts them as much as it hurts us." The mother of one of the victims told Reuters that she had been staying at a friend's apartment at the time of the strike. "When the strike happened I checked a Telegram channel and I saw their fence and my son's car," she added. On the agenda for the US talks is setting up another trilateral meeting involving Russia, as well as efforts to smooth over the rocky relationship between Zelensky and Trump, who has accused the Ukrainian leader of being the main obstacle to peace. Ukraine is also offering the US its drone expertise and technology - which could be useful in fighting and defending against Iran. Russian forces have frequently targeted Zaporizhzhia since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Speaking to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg last week, Zelensky said Ukraine faced a deficit of missiles due to the war in the Middle East. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted a "long war" between the US, Israel and Iran because it would weaken Kyiv, with US resources being directed elsewhere. The Trump administration's decision to ease its sanctions on countries buying Russian oil earlier this month was welcomed by the Kremlin - but sparked deep concerns among Ukrainians. The US waiver, active for one month, will make it easier for countries to buy up Russian oil. Pro-Ukraine campaigners have said it marks a symbolic shift in the Western consensus away from applying maximum pressure on Russia.