Ukrainian officials visit US, accuse Russia of silence

KYIV, June 04 (Reuters): Senior Ukrainian officials visited Washington on Tuesday to seek US support against Russia while accusing Moscow of dragging its feet at peace talks.

Kyiv showed its ability to continue fighting by setting off an explosive device under a bridge that has become a symbol of the Kremlin's claims on Ukrainian territory.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian artillery strike killed four people in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy, an area where Russian forces have been making advances.

Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, writing on Telegram after meeting US Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg, accused Russia of "playing for time, manipulating the talks, trying to avoid US sanctions and not wanting a ceasefire."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha was more blunt, saying Russia had ignored a request to comment on Ukraine's proposals at Monday's second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul.

"We demand Russia's reply. Each day of silence from them proves their wish to continue the war," Sybiha wrote on social media.

Russia, he said, had "passed a set of old ultimatums that do not move the situation any closer to true peace."

Yermak, in the United States with Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, also said he briefed US envoy Steve Witkoff "on the real situation on the battlefield" and invited him to visit Ukraine "to witness the situation firsthand."

"We need a ceasefire - we have fully supported the US proposal on this since March. We are also ready for a leaders' meeting, which Russia continues to avoid," he said.

A US official said Yermak was scheduled to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday.

Yermak said officials would also discuss a deal that gives the US preferential access to new Ukrainian mineral projects and sets up an investment fund that could be used for reconstruction.