Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed the progress made at peace talks with US officials in Florida, saying the “next steps and the format” of further discussions had been agreed.

But with few new developments otherwise announced by either side, Ukraine’s ambassador to the US Olga Stefanishyna admitted that “difficult issues remain”.

Stefanishyna told CNN that “both sides continue working to shape realistic and acceptable solutions”.

“The main challenges at this stage concern questions of territory and guarantees, and we are actively seeking optimal formats for addressing them,” she said.

“More details will be provided once all information is compiled.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the “next steps” for talks with the US about post-war Ukraine have been agreed.

Zelensky joined his negotiators for a "very substantive and constructive" call with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during the third day of meetings in Florida.

"Ukraine is committed to continuing to work honestly with the American side to bring about real peace," Zelensky said on Telegram.

He added that parties agreed "on the next steps and the format of the talks with America".

Bulgarian maritime authorities have launched efforts to evacuate the crew of the oil tanker Kairos stranded off the Black Sea port of Ahtopol and believed to be part of the “ shadow fleet ” used by Russia to evade international sanctions linked to its war in Ukraine.

Last week, the Gambian-flagged 274-meter Kairos caught fire after an alleged attack with Ukrainian naval drones in the Black Sea near the Turkish coast. It was sailing empty from Egypt toward the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

The 149,000-tonne Kairos, formerly flagged as Panamanian, Greek and Liberian, was built in 2002. It was sanctioned by the EU in July this year, followed by the UK and Switzerland.

French president Emmanuel Macron condemned Russia's latest missile and drone attack on Ukraine, claiming that Russia was escalating the war instead of seeking peace.

"Russia is locking itself into an escalatory path and is not seeking peace. I firmly condemn the massive strikes that targeted Ukraine last night, particularly its energy and railway infrastructure," he wrote on X.

"We must continue to exert pressure on Russia to compel it to choose peace," he added, ahead of his London visit.

"Ukraine can count on our unwavering support. This is the very purpose of the efforts we have undertaken within the Coalition of the Willing.

"We will continue these efforts with the Americans to provide Ukraine with security guarantees, without which no robust and lasting peace will be possible.

"For what is at stake in Ukraine is also the security of Europe as a whole."

Russia's air defences destroyed 77 Ukrainian drones launched overnight, the defence ministry said this morning, as both sides continue cross-border air attacks in the nearly four-year-old war.

The drones were downed over seven regions in southern and central Russia and over Russian-annexed Crimea, the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

A power transmission tower was damaged in the Rostov region bordering Ukraine about 1,000km south of Moscow, leaving about 250 residents without electricity, Rostov Governor Yuri Slyusar said on Telegram, adding that no one was injured.

About 42 drones were destroyed over the Saratov region in southwestern Russia and 12 over the Rostov region, the defence ministry said.

Russian authorities rarely disclose the extent of damage from Ukrainian air attacks and almost never confirm hits on military infrastructure.

The war has increasingly featured long-range drone and missile strikes far from the front lines, as each side seeks to hit military, logistics and energy assets deep in the other's territory.

Russia's air defence units destroyed 77 Ukrainian drones launched overnight, the defence ministry said this morning.

Lithuania's Vilnius airport resumed operations after balloons had forced it to close its airspace earlier, it said yesterday.

Saturday's closure was the latest in a series of interruptions of the Baltic nation's air traffic in recent months.

The airport, located some 30km from Belarus, has been closed more than 10 times since early October over similar incidents, and was last closed on 3 December.

Lithuania says balloons are sent by smugglers transporting cigarettes from Belarus, but also blames Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, for not stopping what it calls a form of "hybrid attack".

Poland scrambled jets overnight due to the Russian attacks on Ukraine, but the Operational Command of the Armed Forces said there were no airspace violations.

Sirens sounded yesterday in Lubartów in the Lublin region of eastern Poland, private broadcaster RMF FM reported.

RMF quoted local mayor Krzysztof Pasnik as saying the warning was activated due to the situation in Ukraine.