That all changed Wednesday night.

He described the latest negotiations as “a political performance” and “artificial diplomacy” designed to stall for time, delay sanctions and convince the United States that Russia is engaged in dialogue.In tandem with the talks, both sides have kept up military actions along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.

Ukraine’s Security Service gave more details Wednesday about itson Russian air bases, which it claimed destroyed or damaged 41 aircraft, including strategic bombers.It released more footage showing drones swooping under and over parked aircraft and featuring some planes burning. It claimed the planes struck included A-50, Tu-95, Tu-22, Tu-160, An-12, and Il-78 aircraft. It said the drones had highly automated capabilities, partly piloted by an operator and partly by artificial intelligence that flew the devices along a planned route in case the signal was lost.

The drones were not fully autonomous and a “human is still choosing what target to hit,” said Caitlin Lee, a drone warfare expert atUkraine’s security agency said it also set off an explosion Tuesday on the seabed beneath the Kerch Bridge, a vital transport link between Russia and illegally annexed Crimea, claiming it

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there was no damage.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that its troops have taken control of another village in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, on the border with Russia.Since the boat removal program began in 2002, the department has hauled out more than 1,200 derelict vessels. There are at least 300 more out there, with more found all the time, Upthegrove said.

“It’s a real challenge impacting the Puget Sound when people essentially dump their old boats into the water because they don’t want to deal with disposing of them,” he said. “That burden then falls on all of us.”The federal grant allowed the state to clean up boats on Squaxin Island, an uninhabited island that is of particular cultural importance to the Squaxin Island Tribe. The tribe’s people once shared vast lands in western Washington state, but following the 1854 Treaty of Medicine Creek, the island — 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) long and half a mile (800 meters) wide — was the main area reserved for them, according to

Eventually, the tribe’s members moved off the island, but they continue to use it for fishing, hunting, shellfish gathering and camping.“The Squaxin Island Tribe is very enthusiastic about this opportunity to work with DNR to clean-up derelict vessels on tribal lands,” said Daniel Kuntz, the tribe’s policy and program manager. “Maintaining clean beaches and water are essential to the Squaxin Island culture to ensure gathering access for future generations.”