Russia unleashed heavy airstrikes on Ukraine Thursday before a conference in Rome at which Kyiv won billions of dollars in aid pledges, and US-Russian talks at which Washington voiced frustration with Moscow over the war. Two people were killed, 23 were wounded and there was damage in nearly every part of Kyiv from missile and drone attacks on the capital and other parts of Ukraine. Addressing the Rome conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction, President Volodymyr Zelensky urged allies to “more actively” use Russian assets for rebuilding and called for weapons and investment. Participants pledged over 10 billion euros ($12 billion) to help rebuild Ukraine, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni said. At talks with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Malaysia, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said he had reinforced the message that Moscow should show more flexibility. “We need to see a roadmap moving forward about how this conflict can conclude… It was a frank conversation,” Rubio said after the 50-minute talks. Moscow’s foreign ministry said they had shared “a substantive and frank exchange of views”. (This is a Reuters story)
