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Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to President Biden, met with senior Lebanese officials in Beirut on Tuesday, where he pressed for a diplomatic solution as increasingly deadly clashes between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah have shaped the situation in Israel. The Lebanese border is dangerously volatile.

For the past eight months, as war has raged in Gaza, another war has erupted on Israel’s northern border. At the time, Hezbollah, a well-armed and battle-tested fighting force, and the Israeli army were playing a dangerous game, flexing their muscles but launching attacks to avoid all-out war. Although the parties have taken an ostensibly measured approach, civilians have been killed and more than 150,000 displaced in both countries. Their homes on the border.

As the fighting escalates, any miscalculation risks dragging both sides into a wider escalation. Given the strength of Hezbollah’s fighting force, a full-scale war between Israel and the group could devastate both countries.

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BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum put his hands behind his head as TD Garden fans stood on their feet and cheered around him.

Walked to the bench and wrapped both arms around Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla.

The journey is over.

The Boston Celtics stand out among the NBA champions once again.

Tatum had 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, breaking a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in league history, and the Celtics topped the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 on Monday night to win the franchise’s 18th championship.

Boston’s latest title came on the 16th anniversary of hoisting its last Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2008. It marks the 13th championship won this century by one of the city’s Big 4 professional sports franchises.

“It’s the world,” Tatum said onstage after receiving the trophy from NBA commissioner Adam Silver. “It’s been a long time. And I am grateful.

Jaylen Brown added 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists and was voted NBA Finals MVP.

“I share this with my brothers and my partner in crime, Jayson Tatum,” Brown said after the 107th career playoff game he and Tatum played together — the most of any duo before winning the title.

Jrue Holiday finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Center Kristaps Porzingis also provided an emotional lift, returning from a two-game absence due to a sprained ligament in his left ankle to chip in five points in 17 minutes.

They Celtics went 16-3 in the postseason and finished with an 80-21 overall record. That .792 winning percentage is second in team history behind the Celtics’ 1985-86 championship team that finished 82-18 (.820).

Mazzulla, in his second season, at age 35, became the youngest coach to lead a team to a championship since Phil Russell in 1969.

“You’re very unlikely to be great in life,” Mazzulla said.

Luka Doncic finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas, which failed to extend the streak except for a 38-point win in Game 4. The Mavericks are 3-0 this postseason in Game 5s in which Doncic has at least scored. 31 points in each.

Kyrie Irving finished with just 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting and lost 13 of the last 14 meetings against the Celtics, the team he left to join the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2019.

NBA teams are now 0-157 in postseason series after falling from 3-0 deficits.

Feeding off the energy of the Garden crowd, Boston trailed by 26 and didn’t lead.

Dallas was within 16-15 before the Celtics closed the first quarter on a 12-3 run, including eight combined points by Tatum and Brown.

The Celtics did it again in the second quarter when the Mavericks cut a 15-point deficit to nine. Boston closed the period with a 19-7 spurt, capped by a half-court buzzer beater by Payton Pritchard — his second shot of the series — to give Boston a 67-46 halftime lead.

In the final two minutes of the first and second quarters, the Celtics outscored the Mavericks 22-4.

The Celtics never looked back.

Russell’s widow, Jeanine Russell, and her daughter Karen Russell were at TD Garden to salute the new generation of Celtic champions.

They saw current Celtics stars Tatum and Brown get their first rings. It was the same trade that sent 2008 champions Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn in 2013 and used draft picks to select Brown and Tatum overall in 2016 and 2017.

The All-Stars came into their own this season, leading a Celtics team that made the most 3-pointers and the league’s best-rated defense during the regular season.

The two have qualified for the Eastern Conference Finals as teammates the previous four times.

They finally reached the finish line with a fifth deep playoff run.

After the duo struggled offensively at times in the series, Tatum and Brown hit a groove in Game 5, combining for 31 points and 11 assists in the first half.

This postseason helped Boston exhibit all the traits that have made it one of the NBA’s most formidable teams — spreading teams, sharing the ball and wreaking havoc on defense.

And it’s a headwind for the Celtics, who lost in the Finals to the Golden State Warriors in 2022 and then failed to return last season after losing in Game 7 to the Miami Heat.

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NBA AP: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

PINEHURST, N.C. (AP) — Bryson DeCambeau replaced his 55-degree sand stick this time with the U.S. Open trophy at Pinehurst No. Climbed into the most famous bunker in 2 and filled the silverware with grains of sand. Best shot of his life.

Rory McIlroy He wanted to bury his head in the sand.

He won his second U.S. Open title on Sunday with an up-and-down putt from 55 yards on the bunker — one of the hardest shots in golf — to deliver another memorable finish at Pinehurst and a celebration just like his hero Payne. Stuart hit it big in 1999.

“There’s Payne, kid!” DeChambeau screamed as he teed off the 18th green.

It’s not like DeChambeau won Winged Foot in 2020, when there were no fans and no drama. It was high suspense and it eventually came down to three short putts.

McIlroy, who looked certain to end 10 years without a major in the final round, had a one-shot lead until he missed a 30-inch par putt on the 16th hole. With the lead on the 18th, with DeChambeau behind him in the final group, McIlroy missed a par. 4 feet from inside.

He was watching in the scoring room, anticipating a two-hole playoff, and DeChampeau got into trouble off the tee as he had done all day. But then DeChambeau delivered the magic moment with his bunker shot to 4 feet A couple of puddings For 1-over 71.

“That bunker was the shot of my life,” said DeChambeau.

Minutes later, McIlroy was in his car, the wheels spinning on the gravel to exit Pinehurst without comment. Not much to say. This is a puncher.

“As heartbreaking as it is for some, it’s heartbreaking for me at the PGA,” said DeChambeau, who made a dramatic birdie on the 18th hole at Valhalla a month ago. Xander Schauffele matched him with a birdie to win the PGA Championship.

“I really liked it,” said DeChambeau. “When I turned the corner and I saw a couple back, I said, “No, I’m not going to let that happen.” I have to focus on figuring out how to do this.

True to his form as one of golf’s great entertainers, he put on quite the show.

Bar put isn’t as long or as suspenseful as Stewart’s in 1999. Every bit of the celebration. DeChambeau pumped those mighty arms repeatedly as he screamed at the blue sky, turning in all directions to a gallery that cheered him all week.

As much as this US Open will be remembered for DeCambeau’s spectacular bunker bust, McIlroy played a big part. He didn’t miss a putt at 4 under for 69 holes on the slick, domed Donald Ross greens. Later in the US Open, he bogeyed two of the final three holes for a 69.

McIlroy had the look of a winner. He birdied four of five holes around the turn. He was the epitome of coolness, the opposite of DeChambey’s exuberance. As the chants grew louder, he confidently walked to the 14th tee with a two-shot lead.

“Ror-EE! Ror-ee!”

DeChambeau could hear them, and he hit a 3-wood on the reachable par-4 13th — the tees moved 316 yards — to the middle of the green for a birdie close.

McIlroy took a bogey from behind the 15th green, but he stood one in front when DiZambo, playing in the group behind him, missed his first three-putt of the week from 4 feet on the 15th.

That’s where this US Open spelled disaster for McIlroy.

He missed a 30-inch par putt Fall back into a tie at the 16th hole. On the 18th hole, McIlroy’s tee shot landed behind a wiregrass bush. He hit the green low and pitched beautifully to 4 feet. And he missed again.

DeChambeau kept fans on edge until the end. He pulled his drive to a terrible lie to the left, a tree in his backswing and a root in front of the golf ball. The best he could manage was to poke it toward the green, and it rolled into a front-right bunker.

“One of the worst places I could have been,” DeChambeau said. But his caddy, Greg Bodine, kept it simple.

“G-Bo just said: ‘Bryson, get it up and down. That’s all you have to do. You’ve done it many times before. I’ve seen some crazy shots from 50 yards from a bunker,'” DeChampeau said.

During the trophy ceremony, the shot was replayed on a video screen.

“I still can’t believe it up and down,” DeChambeau said.

Since he won the US Open at Congressional in 2011, McIlroy has gone seven out of 10 at the championship — more than 100 years since anyone did better without going home with the trophy.

DeChambeau became only the second LIV golfer to win a major at last year’s PGA Championship, following Brooks Koepka.

A picture of Stewart’s famous pose was at the pin on the 18th, and DeCambeau wore a Stewart-inspired flat hat during the trophy presentation, later replacing it with his “Crushers” hat from LIV.

He finished at 6-under 274.

Patrick Cantley He hung around this fight all afternoon, unable to get the putts in time, and his chances ended until he missed a 7-foot par putt on the 16th hole. He finished with a 70 and was tied for third with Tony Fina, who had no chance of winning with a Sunday-best 67.

This is not the same DeChambeau who has become a polarizing figure — the target of heckling for slow play and his Brooks spat with Koepka. In the sand dunes of North Carolina, thousands were by his side. He signed autographs during his tour, he engaged with fans and he put on one hell of a show.

When it was over, he saw the double-decker grandstands surrounding the 18th and the thousands surrounding the 18th green and invited them to his party.

“I want all of you somehow,” he said, pointing them in every direction, “and I want you to touch this cup, because I want you to experience what it feels like to me. You’ve been a part of this journey this week, to the party.” Then I want you to be a part of it.

DeChambeau is not flawless. He hit just five fairways, the fewest in the final round by a US Open champion since Angel Cabrera at Oakmont in 2007. He couldn’t get out of trouble on the 12th, which dropped him two shots behind. He had his first three-putt of the week on the 15th at worst.

But eventually the two-time US Open champion showed his talent.

“The most impressive thing about Bryson is not that he hits the ball very far. Everyone knows that,” said Mathieu Pavon, who played with DeChambeau. He shot 71 to finish fifth. “I was surprised by the quality of the short game on 18. It was a masterclass.”

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AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

CNN
—

Vladimir Putin is scheduled to travel North Korea for a two-day visit starting on Tuesday, the Kremlin said Russian It was the president’s first visit to the country in more than two decades — and the latest sign Deep conditioning This has raised widespread international concern.

It was a rare foreign trip for Putin from the full extent of Russia Invasion of Ukraine Began in 2022 and is a pivotal moment for North Korean President Kim Jong Un, who has not hosted another world leader in one of the world’s most politically isolated capitals since the Covid-19 pandemic – Pyongyang.

The closely watched visit is expected to further cement the growing partnership between the two powers, founded on their shared hostility to the West and driven by Putin’s need for support in his ongoing war on Ukraine.

Following his visit to North Korea, Putin will travel to Hanoi on Wednesday for another two-day trip that could put the United States on the map of communist-ruled Vietnam’s relations with Russia.

America, South Korea and other countries are accusing North Korea Provides substantial military assistance Observers have raised concerns that Russia’s war effort in recent months could defy international sanctions and aid Pyongyang’s development. New military satellite program. Both countries have denied North Korea’s arms exports.

Putin’s trip is a reflection of Kim’s Last SeptemberThe North Korean leader traveled to Russia’s Far East in his armored train, a visit that included a warplane-making factory and a rocket-launching facility.

Kim hailed the future of the countries’ “meaningful relations and close friendship” in a message to Putin last week to commemorate Russia’s National Day on June 12.

“Our people give full support and solidarity to the successful work of the Russian military and people,” Kim said, according to the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper.

The Kremlin has said Russia hopes to build a partnership with North Korea “in all possible areas,” according to Russian state media.

Days after the Group of Seven (G7) summit of advanced economies attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Western leaders reiterated their continued support for Ukraine. $50 billion in debt For a war-torn country.

It also follows Kiev’s support International Peace Conference More than 100 countries and organizations attended the weekend to drum up support for Zelensky’s vision for peace, which calls for the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.

Putin rejected those efforts a day before the meeting, offering his own peace conditions, including the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the four partially occupied territories and the withdrawal of Ukraine’s bid to join NATO, which Kiev and its allies consider a non-starter.

Putin’s visit to North Korea is widely seen as an opportunity to bolster Kim’s support for his war — a goal that may be increasingly urgent as U.S. military aid to Ukraine comes online overdue.

Last month, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told US lawmakers that North Korean weapons and missiles and Iranian drones had allowed Russian forces to “stand up again”.

Between August and February, Pyongyang sent about 6,700 containers to Russia, which could accommodate more than 3 million 152 mm artillery shells or more than 500,000 rounds of 122 mm multiple rocket launchers, South Korea’s defense ministry said earlier this year.

Both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied such arms transfers, and last month a senior North Korean official called such allegations a “ridiculous contradiction”.

Asked about concerns that Russia is considering transferring sensitive technologies to Pyongyang in exchange for those goods, a Kremlin spokesman said last week that the countries’ “potential for developing bilateral relations” was “profound” and “shouldn’t cause anyone concern.” No one can and should not challenge.

When Putin visited North Korea in 2000, he met with Kim’s predecessor and late father, Kim Jong Il.

His trip comes now as the Russian leader appears eager to reassert himself on the world stage, shedding an isolated image following widespread condemnation of his invasion of Ukraine, drawing in like-minded allies.

Putin did one last month Official visit to BeijingThere he and Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed their shared opposition to the US-led world order.

Moscow last week hosted foreign ministers from countries including China, Iran, South Africa and Brazil for a meeting of the major developing economies of the BRICS group.

Putin’s move to strengthen North Korean ties is a boon for Kim, who has been dogged by years of international sanctions over his illegal nuclear weapons program.

It coincides with a period of international concern about the North Korean leader’s intentions, as he has reined in belligerent language and scrapped a longstanding policy of peaceful reunification with South Korea.

A visit by a leader of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council would provide a signal to Kim’s domestic audience about his global influence — and an opportunity to secure much-needed economic and technical support from Moscow.

Russia has previously supported international sanctions and UN-backed investigations into North Korea’s illegal weapons program, including tests of long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles that could theoretically reach the US mainland.

But Russia’s growing reliance on North Korea and growing friction with the West appear to have changed that dynamic. March, Moscow He vetoed the UN resolution Renew independent monitoring of North Korea’s violations of Security Council sanctions.

An American tourist was found dead near the Greek island of Corfu on Sunday, local media reported. It is the latest in a string of recent incidents in which tourists have died or gone missing on the Greek islands.

Another tourist spotted the man in the sea near Madraqi’s old port and alerted police, AFP reported, citing local media.

The American tourist was reported missing on Thursday. He was last seen alive on Tuesday at a cafe in the company of two female tourists who had left the island, the Associated Press reported.

According to the Athens News Agency, he was in Matraki on vacation with a Greek-American friend, AFP reported. Additional details, including the victim’s name or hometown, were not immediately available.

With a population of just 100, Madraki is a wooded island covering an area of ​​1.2 square miles. It is west of the well-known island of Corfu.

This is the third human death in recent days on the Greek islands.

Dr. Michael Moseley, a popular British television presenter and author, He was found dead last Sunday On the island of Simi. A coroner concluded that she had died the previous Wednesday, shortly after going on a hike through rough, rocky terrain.

Simi is very close to the Turkish coast.

A missing Dutch tourist was found dead on the eastern island of Samos early Saturday, local media reported. The body of a 74-year-old Dutch tourist was found face down in a ravine about 330 meters from where he was last seen on Sunday, walking with some difficulty in the blistering heat.

Authorities are still searching for three people, including an American, who were reported missing on various Greek islands in the past few days.

On Amorgos Island, authorities are still searching Albert Kalibet, 59, has been reported missing since Tuesday. When he went for a solo walk in extremely hot conditions. Hailing from Hermosa Beach, California, Calibet is a retired Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy.

A US State Department spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News on Thursday that the department is aware of reports of Khalibet’s disappearance and will “work closely with local authorities as they conduct their search efforts.”

“Greece’s Missing Persons Alert Program has issued a notification regarding this case,” a State Department spokesman said.

On Friday, two French tourists went missing on the relatively secluded Cyclades island of Sighinos in the Aegean Sea, with fewer than 400 permanent residents.

The two women, aged 73 and 64, had gone to their respective hotels to meet.

JERUSALEM – The Israeli military on Sunday announced a “tactical pause” in its offensive in the southern Gaza Strip, allowing for a greater flow of humanitarian aid.

The military said the suspension will be in effect in the Rafah area from 8 am (0500 GMT, 1 am Eastern) until 7 pm (1600 GMT, noon Eastern). It said these suspensions will continue every day until further notice.

Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said: X The suspensions did not end the army’s offensive. “No ceasefire in southern Gaza, fighting continues in Rafah.”

The suspension is aimed at allowing aid trucks to reach the nearby Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, the main gateway for incoming aid, and safely travel to the Salah al-Din highway, a key north-south road to deliver supplies to others. Parts of Gaza, the military said. It said the suspension was being coordinated with the UN and international aid agencies.

The crossing has been problematic since Israeli ground forces moved into Rafah in early May.

COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees aid distribution in Gaza, said the route would increase the flow of aid to other parts of Gaza, including Khan Younis, Muwasi and central Gaza. Supplies enter a crossroads in the north, hard-hit northern Gaza, an early target of the war.

The military said Sunday’s suspension, which marks the main Eid al-Adha holiday for Muslims in Gaza and elsewhere, came after discussions with the United Nations and international aid agencies.

Following criticism of the move by extremists in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government who oppose a ceasefire, the military said there was no end to fighting in other parts of southern Gaza and no change in aid flows in general.

Aid agencies, including the UN, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. UN for Palestinians Scott Anderson, director of Gaza affairs for the agency, told CNN he hoped the moratorium would “bring much-needed aid to the people.”

The standoff on the southern route comes as Israel and Hamas weigh the latest cease-fire proposal, the most concentrated diplomatic push by the administration described by President Joe Biden to end the fighting and release the hostages. By the militant group. Although Biden has described the plan as an Israeli plan, Israel has not fully embraced it and Hamas has demanded changes unacceptable to Israel.

The fighting continues unabated, and Israel on Sunday announced the names of a total of 11 soldiers killed in recent attacks in Gaza, including one who died of wounds sustained in an attack last week. The number of soldiers killed since Israel began its ground invasion of Gaza last year has reached 308.

Israeli officials say Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage during its October 7 attack. More than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Hamas-run Gaza, health officials say.

Israel’s eight-month military offensive against Hamas, triggered by the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack, has plunged Gaza into a humanitarian crisis, the U.N. It declared widespread starvation and hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of starvation.

The international community has urged Israel to do more to defuse the crisis Continue fightingAid deliveries have been complicated throughout the war, including in Rafah.

From May 6 to June 6, the UN received an average of 68 truckloads of aid per day, according to figures from the UN humanitarian office, OCHA. That was up from 168 a day in April and far short of the 500 trucks a day aid groups say they need.

Aid flows to southern Gaza have slowed as humanitarian needs have increased. More than 1 million Palestinians, many of whom have already been displaced. He fled Rafah after the invasion, gathering in other parts of southern and central Gaza. Most now languish in squatter tent camps with open sewage on the streets, using ditches as latrines.

COGAT says there is no entry barrier for trucks. From May 2 to June 13, 8,600 trucks of all types, both aid and commercial, entered Gaza, an average of 201 per day. But much of that aid piled up at crossroads and never reached its final destination.

Shimon Friedman, spokesman for COGAT, said Kerem Shalom’s stockpile of its cargo in the Gaza Strip was the UN’s fault. He said the agencies have “fundamental logistical problems that have not been fixed,” particularly a shortage of trucks.

The UN denies such allegations. Clashes between Israel and Hamas, UN inside Gaza This makes it extremely dangerous for trucks to get to Kerem Shalom, next to the border with Israel.

It also says deliveries have slowed because the Israeli military must authorize drivers to get to the site, a system Israel says is designed to protect drivers. Due to insecurity, aid trucks have in some cases been looted by mobs as they pass through Gaza’s roads.

The new arrangement aims to reduce the need to coordinate deliveries by providing an 11-hour uninterrupted window each day where trucks can move in and out of the crossing.

It was not immediately clear whether the army would provide security for aid trucks on the highway.

OBBÜRGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Dozens of world leaders gathered in a Swiss resort on Saturday to discuss how to bring peace to war-torn Ukraine, even as Russia’s absence dampened any hopes of real progress.

More than two years of war, militants will be distant As they always have, Kyiv is sticking to its demands that Russia withdraw all Ukrainian territory it has seized, and Moscow is stepping up its aggressive offensive.

Despite Russia’s absence from the conference at the Bürgenstock resort Overlooking Lake Lucerne, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested that one measure of the event’s success would be “bringing back to the world the idea that joint efforts can end war and establish a just peace.”

Participants face a tricky balancing act, with many chastising Russia for violations of international law while hedging their positions to open the door for Moscow to join future peace talks that could one day end the conflict.

“Here, there are representatives from Latin America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, the Pacific, North America and religious leaders,” Zelensky said. “Now, there is no Russia here. Why? Because if Russia cared about peace, there would be no war.

“We must decide together what a just peace is for the world and how it can be achieved in a truly lasting way,” he said. “In the first peace summit, we must decide how to achieve a just peace, so that in the second, we can already resolve a real end to the war.”

About half of the 100 delegates were led by heads of state and government. Analysts said the poll will be a key indicator of how much Ukraine and its staunch Western backers are pulling with the wider international community.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday sought to cast a shadow over the Swiss-Ukrainian initiative for the conference. Some countries, such as India, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, have maintained sometimes lucrative relations with Moscow – unlike Western powers, which have allowed Russia to go to war.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, told the conference that credible peace talks would require Russia’s participation and would require “difficult compromise”.

Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, acknowledged the mistrust between Russia and Ukraine, saying that “each side views the other’s actions (in the floating proposals) as an extension of a broader war effort.”

“I must also note that if your Excellency, Russia – the other party to the conflict – had been in the room, this summit would have been more results-oriented,” he added.

US Vice President Kamala HarrisPresident Joe Biden represented America when he attended a fundraiser in California. Full support of USA to Ukraine and announced $1.5 billion in new US aid For many projects like energy infrastructure and citizen security.

china, Support Russia, joining many other countries participating in the event. Beijing has said any peace process would require the participation of Russia and Ukraine, and has floated Its own ideas for peace.

In a separate initiative last month, China and Brazil agreed to six “general understandings” toward a political solution to the Ukraine crisis, calling on Russia and other countries to play a role in promoting “timely” peace talks with both countries. Ukraine is involved.

The stance on Ukraine is mired in security for Europe — the continent’s worst conflict since World War II — and great power geopolitics.

U.S. intelligence officials say China has increased sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow uses to make missiles, tanks, planes and other weapons to fuel its war effort.

“It’s clear that China is not here, and I assume they’re not here because Putin asked them not to come, and they forced Putin to,” said Jake Sullivan, a top foreign policy adviser to Biden. “I think it says a lot about where China is in terms of Russia’s war in Ukraine. I think countries should take notice.

Both Harris and Sullivan acknowledged that not all participants were on the same page about the eventual peace settlement.

Russian troops control nearly a quarter of Ukraine have made territorial gains In recent months. Ukrainian forces recently retook large swathes of territory near the southern city of Kherson and the northern city of Kharkiv as talks began on a Swiss-hosted peace summit last summer.

The conference focused on three agenda items — considered the least controversial bits of Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace “formula”: nuclear security, including the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia power plant; possible prisoner of war exchanges; and global food security. The war has disrupted the export of food and fertilizer through the Black Sea.

Zelenskyy’s plan called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied Ukrainian territory, a ceasefire and the restoration of Ukraine’s original borders with Russia, including Russia’s withdrawal from occupied Crimea. As Ukrainians are often on the defensive these days, those seem increasingly distant hopes.

Putin wants any peace deal to be built around a draft agreement negotiated in the early stages of the war that would include Ukraine’s neutral status and limits on its armed forces. Ukraine’s push to join NATO has rankled Moscow for years.

He wants Ukraine to abandon its bid to join NATO and withdraw its forces from areas illegally annexed by Russia by 2022.

“The situation on the battlefield has changed dramatically,” said Alexander Gabov, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, adding that while Russia “cannot quickly achieve its maximum objectives by military means,” it is gaining momentum on the battlefield.

As world leaders discussed a path to peace in Switzerland, a battleground in Ukraine, shelling killed at least three civilians and wounded 15 others Friday and overnight into Saturday, regional officials said.

Meanwhile, Vyacheslav Kladkov, the governor of Russia’s southern Belgorod region, blamed Ukraine in a social media post for Friday’s shelling of a five-story apartment building in the city of Shebekino, killing five people. There was no immediate comment from Kiev.

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Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and Joanna Kozlowska in London contributed to this report.