MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Delegations from the United States and Ukraine have begun talks in Saudi Arabia to try to achieve a ceasefire in Russia's war with Ukraine.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Ukraine's defense minister called these conversations productive. The Americans meet the Russians next. So far, both sides have agreed to stop targeting each other's energy infrastructure, although Ukraine's president says that is far from a genuine ceasefire.
MARTIN: We're going to go now to NPR's Eleanor Beardsley, who is in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital. Eleanor, hello.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So you've been talking to people in Kyiv, people who are just trying to live their lives. Do the people that you've heard from think that these talks could produce a real ceasefire?
BEARDSLEY: Not really because no one believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin really wants to stop the war. And, frankly, the proof of that is all around them. On Saturday night, Russia launched one of its biggest drone attacks yet against Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. And I was cowering in the bathroom as this battle went on for over an hour in the skies, and I stuck my phone out the window. Here's what it sounded like, Michel.
(SOUNDBITE OF WEAPONS FIRING)
BEARDSLEY: You know, that's the air defenses shooting down the Iranian Shahed drones, but they were overwhelmed and some got through. There were fires all night. Three people were killed, says the mayor of Kyiv, and dozens wounded. I went yesterday to an apartment block near the river that was hit by a drone and where an older woman had burned to death in her top floor apartment, and people were gathered out front. Everybody was looking up. The apartment was blackened. The roof and ceiling were gone. Windows were blown out all around, and there was a lot of damage to the building.
MARTIN: Wow, that sounds terrible. What do Ukrainians say? What do they tell you about these ongoing attacks even as these ceasefire talks are taking place?
BEARDSLEY: Yeah, well, they say these attacks just sort of make the talks a farce. I spoke with 19-year-old law student Tatyana (ph), who was at the building. She didn't want to give her last name, but she pulled up a video on social media of the woman on the top floor's death, and she asked me to share it with Americans.
TATYANA: And this is the part of the video of the screaming.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Screaming).
TATYANA: This is burning. So, like, if you can show it in your country, and to tell what is happening. Just see, just see what is going on. Just see how we live in this reality.
BEARDSLEY: You know, she says she wants to show Americans who say they're sick of the war that we're sick of it, too, and that they're exhausted by the continued and constant attacks from a country that invaded them three years ago.
MARTIN: And remind us, what is Ukraine pushing for in these talks?
BEARDSLEY: Well, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to broaden the ceasefire to include other infrastructure. He spoke last night. Here he is.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Non-English language spoken).
BEARDSLEY: And he basically says, you know, everybody - the U.S., Europe, the world - needs to put more pressure on Russia to stop this terror. And Zelenskyy said after the last meetings in Saudi Arabia, where Russian President Vladimir Putin would only agree to stop targeting energy infrastructure, that it should be clear to everyone that Russia is the only one who's dragging out this war.
MARTIN: And what is Russia expected to ask for in these talks?
BEARDSLEY: Russia will demand that Ukraine cede swaths of territory that the Russian army doesn't even fully control. Russia wants the West to end all military aid. Europe says no way on that. Russia wants Ukraine to majorly scale back its military. These are maximalist demands, one analyst told me, and they're not acceptable conditions for Ukraine. But to even be able to sit down and talk face to face about it, Ukraine says the nightly attacks on its cities must end.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Eleanor Beardsley in Kyiv. Eleanor, thank you.
BEARDSLEY: You're welcome, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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