Kremlin Says Refinery Strikes Won't Sink Peace Talks

The Kremlin is shrugging off Ukraine's latest wave of refinery strikes — at least when it comes to the negotiating table. Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said Friday that the attacks won't derail upcoming trilateral peace talks between Moscow, Washington and Kyiv. He accused Kyiv of trying to 'cast a shadow on itself' by hitting Moscow during the Russia-Africa summit, but insisted the preparations aren't getting more complicated.

The strikes themselves are back on. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters Friday that Ukrainian forces hit four sites — three refineries and one gas chemical complex — after a brief pause. Damage was minor at one plant, he said, and Russia's air defenses did their job. Companies are now working on beefing up protection, per Novak. According to Breaking The News, recent reports suggested Kyiv had paused refinery strikes under pressure from Washington, then picked them back up.

The skies over Russia were busy. The Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed 1,043 Ukrainian drones overnight, a day after a single-night record of 1,214. The intercepts stretched across a long list of regions, from Belgorod and Bryansk to Rostov, Samara and Yaroslavl. That's an enormous volume of hardware — and a sign neither side is easing off.

Kyiv felt it too. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said drone wreckage came down in an open area of the city's Obolonsky district, sparking a fire, with emergency crews rushing to the scene. No casualty figures were given.

On the diplomatic side, Peskov sketched out a format that could widen. He said talks will start as a trilateral affair, but that Europeans will eventually need a seat at the table — adding that nobody has worked out the details yet. He had previously noted that resuming trilateral negotiations doesn't automatically mean military operations get restricted.

What happens next hinges on whether that trilateral round actually materializes — and whether the refinery campaign keeps escalating while it does. For now, Moscow is publicly separating the bombs from the bargaining, even as both keep coming.