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US-Ukraine talks in Florida / Moscow and Kiev do not stop drone attacks

2026-03-23 15:19:58, Kosova & Bota CNA

Ukraine and Russia have exchanged major drone strikes, each using over 200 drones, following talks between the United States and Ukraine in Florida, during which a possible prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine was also discussed.

Russia's Defense Forces said they captured and destroyed 249 Ukrainian drones overnight. It was one of the largest drone attacks by Ukraine, which has stepped up attacks on Russian energy targets.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force said Russian forces launched 251 attack drones during the same time.

In Ukraine, Russian drones hit residential areas and port infrastructure in the southern Black Sea region of Odessa, according to the regional governor. At least four people were injured in Kryvyi Rih, a major industrial city in central Ukraine, after Russian strikes, while fires and damage to infrastructure were reported.

In Russia, a drone attack caused a fire at a fuel tank in the port of Primorsky on the Baltic Sea, the country's largest western oil export hub, according to Aleksandr Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region.

Over 70 drones were destroyed in the region over the past 24 hours, Drozdenko wrote on his Telegram account.

The port of Primorsky, with an export capacity of over 1 million barrels of crude oil per day, is an important outlet for Russia's high-quality crude oil and night-time.

This is not the first time Primorsky has been hit by Ukrainian forces: the port was previously attacked in September 2025, and was forced to temporarily halt oil shipments.

Ukraine is continuing its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, hitting oil export facilities and refineries to weaken Moscow's war economy.

Ukraine's negotiating team met with U.S. representatives in Florida for two days of talks on March 21–22.

The American delegation included special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and White House senior adviser Josh Gruenbaum, while the Ukrainian delegation included Rustem Umerov, Kyrylo Budanov, David Arakhamia, and Serhiy Kyslytsya.

According to both sides, the discussions focused on sustainable security guarantees for Ukraine and humanitarian efforts, including possible further prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine.

"There are signals that further exchanges may be possible, and this would be good news and confirmation that diplomacy is working," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening speech on March 22.

Witkoff called the talks with the Ukrainian delegation in Florida "fruitful," adding that they focused on key points to define a stable and credible security framework for Ukraine.

The Ukrainian chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, reported that "progress" has been achieved in approaching positions on unresolved issues with the American side.

Last week, one of the Kremlin's top envoys, Kirill Dmitriev, also traveled to Florida to meet with US officials. He described the talks as "fruitful."

The Kremlin said on March 19 that trilateral talks between Washington, Moscow and Kiev on ending the war in Ukraine are on "pause" following the start of the war with Iran.

"This is a situational pause, for obvious reasons," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that as soon as "our American partners" can pay more attention to Ukrainian issues, Moscow hopes the pause will end and a new round of talks can take place. /REL