{"id":434790,"date":"2026-01-24T16:31:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T16:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/434790\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T16:31:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T16:31:11","slug":"message-written-in-fire-kyiv-shaken-by-massive-missile-barrage-amid-trilateral-peace-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/434790\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Message Written in Fire\u2019 \u2013 Kyiv Shaken by Massive Missile Barrage Amid Trilateral Peace Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Air-defense sirens wailed<\/a> and explosions shook Kyiv early Saturday as Russia launched one of its heaviest assaults in months \u2013 just hours after Ukrainian, Russian, and US negotiators convened in Abu Dhabi for peace talks.<\/p>\n

Kyiv Post reporters who spent the night in shelters described the barrage as \u201cvery, very massive.\u201d<\/p>\n

JOIN US ON TELEGRAM<\/p>\n

Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One correspondent added grimly: \u201cI assume the situation following this strike is going to be extremely tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The timing was unmistakable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith negotiations underway<\/a>, Moscow is sending a message written in fire,\u201d said a senior European diplomat in Washington, speaking on the condition of anonymity. \u201cThis is how the Kremlin negotiates \u2013 with missiles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meaghan Mobbs, daughter of former Trump envoy Keith Kellogg, echoed the sentiment in a pointed social media post<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith ongoing negotiations in Abu Dhabi, it\u2019s hard not to read this as a signal of Russia\u2019s intentions toward peace. I have stopped guessing at what point such behavior would so enrage POTUS that he decides to double down and give substantial aid to Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The strikes come as Kyiv sinks deeper into its worst winter energy crisis since Russia launched its full-scale invasion nearly four years ago.<\/p>\n

Massive power outages, shortages of water and heat, and relentless attacks on the energy grid have plunged large sections of the city into darkness.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Ukraine<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Other Topics of Interest<\/p>\n

Ukraine in Blackouts as War and Global Tensions Escalate<\/a><\/p>\n

Welcome to Summary of the Week \u2014 your quick guide to the top global headlines.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussia is trying to freeze Ukraine into submission,\u201d said the European diplomat. \u201cAnd to signal in Abu Dhabi that it still holds the escalatory cards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talks in the desert <\/p>\n

The overnight bombardment<\/a> unfolded only hours after Ukraine, Russia, and the US opened their first trilateral talks<\/a> since Moscow\u2019s full-scale invasion in February 2022.<\/p>\n

The UAE is hosting two days of meetings aimed at sketching a path toward ending the nearly four-year-old war, with territorial concessions in eastern Ukraine high on the agenda.<\/p>\n

President Volodymyr Zelensky called<\/a> the talks \u201ca step \u2013 hopefully toward ending the war,\u201d but tempered expectations.<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s delegation is led by General Igor Kostyukov, director of the GRU military intelligence agency.<\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s team is headed by Rustem Umerov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council and former defense minister.<\/p>\n

Umerov offered a detailed account of the opening session.\u00a0 \u201cThe meeting focused on the parameters for ending Russia\u2019s war and the further logic of the negotiation process aimed at advancing toward a dignified and lasting peace,\u201d Umerov wrote<\/a>. More sessions are scheduled, with additional Ukrainian generals joining on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing each stage, we report to the President of Ukraine,\u201d he added. \u201cWe are ready to work in various formats depending on the course of the dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the American side were Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Josh Gruenbaum, General Daniel Driscoll, and General Alexus Grynkewich.<\/p>\n

A US official involved in the talks, speaking privately, said the timing of the attack \u201ccomplicates everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Signals in the sky <\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, Ukraine\u2019s allies are already preparing for what may come after the guns fall silent \u2013 if they ever do.<\/p>\n

The EU and the US are exploring up to $800 billion in public and private funding to rebuild Ukraine. An 18-page European Commission proposal outlines the investment goal and a 10-year fast track for Ukraine\u2019s entry into the EU, aligned with Washington\u2019s 20-point peace plan.<\/p>\n

But all of it hinges on a ceasefire that remains elusive.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone wants to talk about reconstruction,\u201d one senior EU diplomat said. \u201cBut first, the missiles have to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, they have not.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Russia\u2019s negotiating position,\u201d said another European diplomat. \u201cThey bomb, then they bargain.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as diplomats prepared to return to conference rooms for their second day in Abu Dhabi, Ukrainians began their weekend once more in shelters \u2013 waiting to learn whether Moscow\u2019s next message would arrive in words, or in fire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Air-defense sirens wailed and explosions shook Kyiv early Saturday as Russia launched one of its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-434790","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}