Russia slams Western peacekeeping plan for Ukraine

An initial 28-point plan that largely adhered to Moscow's demands was criticised by Kyiv and Europe. Now Russia has condemned attempts to beef up protections for Ukraine should an elusive deal be reached.

Underscoring the ongoing danger facing civilians from the fighting, the US Embassy in Kyiv warned Thursday that a "potentially significant air attack" could occur at any time within the next several days.

Zelensky echoed the rare warning in his evening address, telling Ukrainians that "there may be another massive Russian attack" during the night, without elaborating.

"It is very important to pay attention to air raid alerts," he added, advising Ukrainians to take shelter when asked.

A Russian missile strike on Ukraine's central city of Kryvyi Rig earlier Thursday injured almost two dozen people, including six children, emergency services said.

- Moscow rejects NATO presence -

European leaders and US envoys announced earlier this week that post-war guarantees for Ukraine would include a US-led monitoring mechanism and a European multinational force to be deployed once the fighting stops.

But Moscow has repeatedly warned that it would not accept any NATO members sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.

"All such units and facilities will be considered legitimate military targets for the Russian Armed Forces," Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday, repeating a threat previously uttered by Putin.

Describing the plan as "dangerous" and "destructive", she accused Kyiv's allies of forming an "axis of war".

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday said a ceasefire in Ukraine was still "quite far" away given Russia's position.

"The order must be: First a ceasefire, then security guarantees for Ukraine for a long-term agreement with Russia," Merz told reporters.

"All of this is impossible without Russia's consent, which we are probably still quite far from," he added.

Zelensky said Thursday that an agreement between Kyiv and Washington for US security guarantees was "essentially ready for finalisation at the highest level with the President of the United States" following talks between envoys in Paris this week.

Kyiv says legally binding assurances that its allies would come to its defence are essential to convince Russia not to re-attack if a ceasefire is reached.

But specific details, including on the size of the European force and how it would engage, have not been made public.

Zelensky said earlier this week he was yet to receive an "unequivocal" answer from Kyiv's partners on what steps they would take if Russia does attack again after a deal.

Zelensky has also said that the most difficult questions in any settlement -- territorial control of the eastern Donbas region and the fate of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant -- were still unresolved.

- Russian strikes cut heating -

Ukraine was scrambling to restore heating and water to hundreds of thousands of households on Thursday after a new barrage targeted energy facilities in its Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

"This is truly a national level emergency," Borys Filatov, mayor of Dnipropetrovsk's capital Dnipro, said of the earlier strikes.

He announced power was "gradually returning to the hospitals" after blackouts had forced them to run on generators. The city authorities also extended school holidays for children.

About 250,000 households in the region remained cut off from power in Dnipropetrovsk on Thursday evening, officials said, with one million affected earlier in the day.

In a post on social media, Zelensky said the attacks "clearly don't indicate that Moscow is reconsidering its priorities".

A separate Russian attack on the southern city of Kherson killed three people, local officials said.

Russia's army also claimed to have captured another village in the Dnipropetrovsk region as its grinding advance continued.

bur/yad/cc