Zelensky says only US can persuade Russia to end war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that only the US is capable of persuading Russia to end the war in Ukraine, as diplomats converged on Miami for fresh talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

"I believe that such strength exists in the United States and in President (Donald) Trump. And I believe that we should not be looking for alternatives to the United States.

"All alternatives are under question as to whether they would be able to do this," Mr Zelensky told reporters.

The US has offered a potential new format for peace talks between Ukraine and ⁠Russia with American and possibly European envoys participating, Mr Zelensky said.

Ukraine will decide on the format once it ‍is clear whether bilateral discussions with US negotiators that resumed yesterday are positive, Mr Zelensky said, adding he planned to take up the matter with Ukraine's delegation chief Rustem Umerov.

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, he did not go into specifics as to what kind of format US President Donald Trump's administration had proposed.

"The US said they would have ⁠a separate meeting with representatives of Russia," Mr Zelensky said.

"And they proposed the following format, as ⁠far as I understand: Ukraine, America, Russia, and, since there are representatives of Europe there, ⁠probably ‍Europe as ⁠well."

US negotiators were set to meet Russian officials in Florida.

Ukraine and Russia have not negotiated face ⁠to face since July, but US-backed shuttle diplomacy to end the almost four-year-old war in Ukraine has intensified in recent weeks.

Ukrainian and European representatives held a round of discussions ‍with American counterparts in the United States yesterday and agreed to resume contacts soon, ⁠Mr Umerov said.

Russia hits sunflower oil storage in relentless Odesa strikes

It comes after Russia struck sunflower oil storage in relentless strikes on Ukraine's Black Sea Odesa region that continued for a second day in a row, Kyiv and a seed oil trader said.

A series of intensified Russian strikes wrought havoc on the coastline region in recent weeks, hitting bridges, ports and cutting electricity and heating to thousands in freezing temperatures.

"Russia is once again trying to restrict Ukraine's access to the sea and block our coastal regions," Mr Zelensky said of the attacks.

He added that he ordered the quick implementation of "temporary infrastructure solutions so that people would have all the necessary resources".

Russia earlier said it will expand strikes on Ukrainian ports as retaliation for targeting its sanctions-busting oil tankers.

"Ukraine's largest vegetable oil terminal, Allseeds Black Sea, was struck by a bombardment early Saturday," in the Pivdennyi port, Allseeds director of trade Cornelis Vrins said, adding that one employee was killed and two wounded.

"Thousands of tonnes of sunflower oil" were lost in the attack, which has inflicted the biggest damage on the company since the beginning of the war, the co-founder of one of Ukraine's top seed oil traders said.

Ukraine, with its large agricultural sector, is the world's leading sunflower oil producer, according to analysts' estimates, and attacks on export infrastructure may disrupt markets and hinder state revenues.

Ukraine yesterday said it had hit yet another of Moscow's sanctions-busting "shadow fleet" tankers in the neutral waters of the Mediterranean Sea, its first strike in that sea of the nearly four-year war.

Ukraine also struck similar vessels in the Black Sea earlier this month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in early December that Russia would expand strikes on Ukrainian ports and threatened to completely cut off its access to the sea if it continued attacking tankers.