Star Metro - Russia accuses Europe of blocking Ukraine talks, as strikes drag on

Both Moscow and Kyiv have stepped up attacks after the deadliest summer since 2022 -- the year Russia launched its invasion, starting Europe's worst war since World War Two.

But Lavrov, who met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week in New York, instead took aim at Europe, saying it was actively trying to block talks supported by US President Donald Trump's government.

"Europe is doing everything it can to thwart peace talks in which the Trump administration is interested," Lavrov said in a fiery speech to the UN General Assembly.

"The aims of the special military operation will be achieved, the threat to Russian security will be eliminated and peaceful life will come back. This will happen no matter the circumstances," he added, using Moscow's terminology for the conflict.

Russian and Ukrainian strikes killed at least 16 people over the last 24 hours, both countries said Saturday.

Kyiv said Russian strikes had killed at least six people -- in northeastern Sumy, in Zaporizhzhia and in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where a 17-year-old girl was among the victims.

Russia said Ukrainian strikes had killed four people in its Krasnodar and Belgorod regions. Kremlin-installed officials in southern occupied-Ukraine meanwhile said six others were killed in the past 24 hours.

United Nations officials have warned about the increasing numbers of civilian victims in the war.

Earlier this week at the UN General Assembly, Trump once again said that a deal between Moscow and Kyiv to end the war was "going to happen."

But US-led talks to end fighting have not led to a breakthrough, and the Kremlin has repeatedly said it intends to seize the rest of east Ukraine.

Moscow has intensified strikes on Kyiv as the city prepares for another winter of war, while Ukraine has struck deeper inside Russia this year, hitting as far as the Urals and Siberia.

Daytime strikes on Kyiv left seven dead on Friday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Russia was "escalating every single day" and has called for more allied sanctions on Moscow.

"They want to simply wipe out our nation," said 43-year-old Kyiv resident Oleksandr Gorlachov.

- 'Dangerous path of escalation' -

Before his speech, Lavrov met with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul -- the first meeting between Moscow and Berlin's foreign ministers since before the war.

The talks took place as tensions between Berlin and Moscow intensified, Germany accusing Russia of orchestrating an attempted drone attack on Leipzig airport and each country ordering the closure of the other's consulate.

European countries, including Germany, have sounded the alarm in recent days over what they say is increased Russian sabotage activities on their soil.

"Wadephul called on the Russian Federation to abandon its dangerous path of escalation vis-a-vis Germany, Europe, and NATO," a German diplomat said.

"He made it clear: incidents such as the recent attempted attack in Leipzig or further hybrid assaults would not shake Germany's resolve to support Ukraine," he said.

"This attempt to increase pressure does nothing to change Russia's untenable situation: every month, tens of thousands of Russian soldiers die in a hopeless war of positions, while the Russian economy continues to collapse."

Lavrov last met with a German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, in January 2022, less than a month before Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Germany is one of Kyiv's main allies.

Lavrov -- Russia's longest-serving minister -- recently accused Germany of "wanting war again", and is one of Russia's most vocally anti-western officials.

In his speech to the UN, Lavrov took a major swipe at Berlin.

"UN Security Council reform cannot involve any additional seats being allocated to Western countries, especially to Germany and Japan, who are now on the path to militarism."

A.Hill--SMC