Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in a massive missile attack overnight into Thursday, hours after President Vladimir Putin said the Kremlin was ready to resume trilateral peace talks next month.
At the request of US special envoy Steve Witkoff during their three-hour meeting on Wednesday, Putin said he would be willing to resume talks with Ukraine and the United States after November 10. But the latest diplomatic push – during which Witkoff controversially called Putin a “humanitarian” because he freed a detained American citizen – was followed by an attack on Ukraine involving 21 missiles and 210 drones.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that his administration is “the closest we’ve been” to settling the war in Ukraine. The first explosions hit Kyiv three minutes before he made those comments.
The large-scale strikes killed two people and injured 34 others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday. Ukrainian officials said central Kyiv was also hit with a cluster warhead.
“Russian ‘humanitarians’ have launched three waves of ballistic strikes against Kyiv since this evening,” Zelensky said. “This means there has been no real change in its attitude toward everything that is happening.
“When Russian ballistic missiles are the response to negotiations, real pressure must be applied on Russia to take other steps – steps to stop the killings,” he added, calling for a rapid delivery of air defense missiles.
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire after a Russian missile attack in central Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday.Efrem Lukatsky/AP
None of the ballistic missiles that hit Kyiv were intercepted, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, which comes as the country faces a critical shortage of US-made Patriot defense missiles. Air raid sirens continued to blare in Kyiv on Thursday, with warnings of further incoming ballistic missile attacks.
A separate Russian attack hit the central market in the city of Lozova, Kharkiv region, killing at least two people and injuring dozens more as they were shopping on Thursday, according to the mayor.
Meanwhile in Russia, Moscow’s mayor said that 630 drones flew toward the region overnight, in an attack that injured two people in the rural Voronovo area. Most of those were intercepted.
Despite the positive comments on potential future negotiations, there are no indications so far that Russia has budged on any of its maximalist positions.
Russia’s previous demands amount to near-total victory – calling for Ukraine to give up the entire eastern Ukrainian Donbas region, which is now mostly under Russian occupation. Moscow has also called for Ukraine to dramatically reduce the size of its military and pledge to never join NATO.
Ukraine skeptical about fresh trilateral talks in November
According to a post-meeting briefing by Putin’s aide Yury Ushakov, the Kremlin would like to discuss the establishment of a “security framework” for both Russia and Ukraine following the end of the conflict, without offering further details on what Russia would demand as part of that framework.
The next trilateral round could take place in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Ushakov said in response to a question on Russian state news channel Russia 24.
Zelensky said on Wednesday that he would like the meeting to happen “no later than the beginning of November.”
“Russia said many times it is ready for a meeting and then things changed and got canceled,” Zelensky added. “Let’s see what happens this time.”
The meeting in St. Petersburg came a day after Witkoff’s summit with Zelensky in Norway. The US envoy described the meetings with both leaders as “constructive” in a post on X later Wednesday, and said the discussions would continue with the trilateral talks.
“While there is still important work left to do, President Trump remains committed to seeing this war end and achieving a comprehensive, durable peace,” he wrote.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff meet inside the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg Wednesday.Obtained by CNN
During the latest talks, Putin also expressed interest in the topic of restoring economic cooperation with the United States and the possibility of a meeting with China to discuss Ukraine. That follows recent moves by the Trump administration to waive sanctions on Russia and strike a deal on diesel exports.
Speaking to media after the meeting, Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev said there was “no question” that US-Russian economic cooperation would continue, and added that a recently-announced diesel deal between the two countries would go ahead despite European criticism.
A key outcome of the meeting was Witkoff announcing that Russia had released 74-year-old American prisoner Stephen Hubbard, who had been detained in the country for more than four years. A video obtained by CNN after the meeting showed the freed American detainee speaking with Witkoff at the airport in St. Petersburg.
Putin, Witkoff and translators sat around a large round table as they also discussed a wide range of issues including Russia’s willingness to help resolve the war in Iran, potential Russian fertilizer exports to the US and Hubbard’s release. The meeting continued behind closed doors, and Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who has also been involved in the peace negotiations, joined remotely given he has the flu.
The US and Ukraine made “meaningful progress” in the Norway talks on Tuesday, a US official previously told CNN, adding that the two sides are now in “strong alignment” on what the next steps will be.
“Discussions covered key elements of a comprehensive peace framework, including long-term security guarantees for Ukraine, a post-war economic and prosperity plan, and a broader European security architecture designed to create lasting stability,” the US official said.
But Kremlin aide Ushakov poured cold water on those discussions, saying that while Witkoff had highlighted to Putin “certain new approaches and developments in the positions taken by the Europeans and Kyiv… in truth, these contained little of actual value for resolving the Ukrainian crisis.”
Ukraine and its allies have reiterated the key red lines set by Kyiv for any peace negotiations, including the need for future security guarantees – to ensure Russia doesn’t invade again – and a rejection of any demands to give up territory it controls.
In an Fox News interview on Wednesday, Zelensky repeated a long-held position that Ukraine would accept a ceasefire deal that involves a freeze along the current frontline – something that would involve retaining only about 75 percent of Ukrainian land – and would then ask allies for meaningful security guarantees.
Zelensky also said that Ukraine also wants trilateral negotiations involving Trump, Putin and himself, but the process would be “better with Europeans.”
“I always said that we are open to negotiate in any format, any topics, but don’t speak about us without us, please,” he said, balking at the prospect of any Russia-China-US negotiations.
A European official in Oslo told CNN: “I think plans – or lack of – isn’t as much of a problem as getting Russia to treat any plan seriously.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Victoria Butenko, Ivana Kottasová, Kevin Liptak, Nick Paton Walsh and Kathleen Magramo contributed to this report.
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