Russia refuses to stop attacking Ukraine during peace negotiations- Lavrov

Russia will not pause its full-scale invasion of Ukraine while negotiations on a peace settlement are underway, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, rejecting Kyiv’s call for a ceasefire as well as the possibility of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the G20 summit in Miami in December.

“We are still ready for negotiations, but the (war against Ukraine) will not be stopped during this period,” Lavrov told Russian state media. He said Moscow had already agreed to limited pauses in fighting and “drawn conclusions,” referring to previous temporary truces that Russia and Ukraine accused each other of violating.

Lavrov also dismissed Zelensky’s proposal for a face-to-face meeting with Putin at the G20, repeating the Kremlin’s demand that any such meeting take place in Moscow. “An invitation was sent to (Zelensky). If he wants to meet, then he should come,” Lavrov said. He described Moscow’s position as a “huge gesture of goodwill,” while accusing Zelenskyy of lacking “good intentions.”

Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out Moscow as a venue and proposed meeting Putin in a neutral third country. Kyiv has also called for negotiations to take place alongside a cessation of hostilities and said it is ready to observe an unconditional ceasefire if Russia does the same. The two leaders have not met in person since before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Lavrov’s comments come amid renewed U.S.-led efforts to restart peace negotiations. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow and Kyiv in September, but the talks failed to produce a breakthrough. The envoys said they hoped to resume trilateral negotiations involving Washington, Kyiv and Moscow, an option the Kremlin has not ruled out, although no new talks have been announced.

Background

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on September 12 that he is prepared to attend the G20 summit in Miami in December and meet Russian President Vladimir Putin if Putin also attends.

“Yes, of course. We have to come. We have to meet, to speak and make decisions,” Zelenskyy told Deutsche Welle. “It’s not about words. What I will tell him or what he wants to tell me, it doesn’t matter. Results matter. That’s it.”

Zelenskyy and Putin have not met in person since before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Moscow has not yet discussed whether Putin will attend the summit. “As for the possibility of Putin’s trip, this issue has not even been discussed yet,” Ushakov told the pro-Kremlin outlet Izvestia. Putin has not personally attended a G20 leaders’ summit since 2019, according to Deutsche Welle.

Russian jet drones attacked Lutsk and Kovel, the most remote cities from the front line

Today Russian forces carried out daytime drone strikes on railway infrastructure in Lutsk and Kovel situated in western Ukraine. Russia started using jet-powered Shahed versions of drones in its aerial attack campaigns. Jet powred drone can fly at higher speeds, about 500-600 km/h, outpacing propeller-driven previous versions of Shahed drones, made in Russia as Geran drones.

Ukrainian Railways and regional authorities reported hits on train stations and related facilities. In Lutsk, a drone struck a passenger train, setting rail cars on fire. The State Emergency Service extinguished the blaze and released photos from the site. Passengers and staff had been evacuated in advance after the threat was detected by monitoring teams, and no injuries were reported among them from the direct strike (some accounts note debris involvement).

In the Kovel community, local reports and officials described a large-scale attack on railway infrastructure, with explosions heard in the city. The head of the Volyn Regional Military Administration, Roman Romaniuk stated that more than ten enemy targets entered the region’s airspace during the air raid alert, with most directed at the Kovel community. Five people were injured there; all received medical assistance, and there were no fatalities. Consequences were still being assessed.

Earlier, Roman Romanik warned residents of a massive drone attack heading toward Volyn Oblast and urged people to stay in shelters. Ukrzaliznytsia board chairman Oleksandr Pertsovskyi confirmed strikes on Lutsk, noting the timely evacuations prevented casualties among passengers and workers. He and other sources indicated the attack was ongoing at the time of initial reports, with swarms of Shahed-type drones still in Ukrainian airspace and possible changes to train schedules. Air raid alerts remained active in Volyn and Rivne oblasts.

This fits a pattern of Russian strikes aimed at Ukrainian logistics and railway networks. Broader overnight attacks around the same period involved large numbers of drones (including jet-powered Shaheds in significant shares in other recent waves), missiles, and decoys, with Ukrainian air defenses intercepting or suppressing the majority in those cases.

In total, Russia launched 410 attack drones against Ukraine between 6:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sept. 12, including 37 jet-powered UAVs, Ukraine’s Air Force reported. Ukrainian air defenses shot down or jammed 336 drones, including 23 jet-powered ones, while 21 drones struck their targets.

As of 6 p.m., about 55 Russian attack drones were still being tracked in Ukrainian airspace, with additional groups continuing to enter the country, the Air Force said.

Russia strikes multi-story apartment building in Odesa, injuring at least 12

A Russian drone struck and damaged a multi-story residential building in Odesa during an overnight attack on September 12, injuring at least 12 people, local authorities said. All of the injured were hospitalized, according to the head of the Odesa City Military Administration. Emergency crews were deployed to the scene as residents reported fires, heavy damage to the apartment building, and debris scattered across the street.

The Ukrainian Air Force warned that Shahed-type drones remained active in the region following the strike, while the full extent of the damage was still being assessed. The attack came shortly after a separate Russian strike killed two people in Zaporizhzhia overnight.

Russia has continued to launch attacks across Ukraine despite a brief reduction in strikes during the first week of September, when U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Kyiv for talks on ending the war. The renewed attacks come as Ukraine faces a critical shortage of air defense systems.

Four ballistic missiles hit Zaporizhzhia Steelworks, causing critical damage

Russia struck Zaporizhstal, a major steel plant in Zaporizhzhia, with ballistic missiles for the third time in a month, injuring four employees and causing further damage to the facility, Metinvest said.

Four missiles hit the plant’s production site, damaging equipment at the blast-furnace and open-hearth shops, as well as its power system, utility networks and logistics infrastructure. Three employees were hospitalized with moderate injuries, while another received medical treatment at the scene and stayed to help respond to the aftermath.

“It is not yet possible to fully assess the scale of the destruction, but our early assessment is that the damage is critical,” said Oleksandr Myronenko, chief operating officer of Metinvest.

Zaporizhstal had not resumed production following previous Russian attacks, meaning there was no risk of an industrial accident, Metinvest said. The number of employees at the plant had also already been significantly reduced.