Key takeaways:
- Ukrainian emergency officials reported at least one person killed and 22 injured in Kyiv, including four children.
- After meeting U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, Russia said it was willing in principle to resume talks and suggested a round around November 10 in Abu Dhabi.
- Zelensky said he would accept a freeze along the current front line, with security guarantees to be discussed afterward.
Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least one person and injured 22 overnight into Thursday, Ukrainian emergency officials said, hours after a U.S. envoy met President Vladimir Putin to press for renewed talks on ending the war.
Four children were among the injured, Ukraine’s national emergency service said, according to Al Jazeera. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko had earlier reported six injuries after several houses were hit on Wednesday night. He also said metro infrastructure was damaged at the Pivdenny Bridge, which crosses the Dnipro River.
Russia reported a large Ukrainian drone attack. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said two people were wounded after Ukraine launched 630 drones at the Moscow region, including 163 toward the capital, and that most were intercepted. Regional officials reported one person wounded in Lipetsk and said air defences destroyed 70 drones in Tula, according to Al Jazeera.
The attacks followed U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff’s meeting with Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday. Witkoff had met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of Norway and Finland in Oslo a day earlier. Zelensky said those discussions covered “strong” security guarantees for Ukraine and proposals for an energy ceasefire.
Russia said it was willing “in principle” to resume U.S.-mediated talks, but Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said the Ukrainian and European ideas were not very “useful.” He suggested another round could take place around November 10 in Abu Dhabi and said talks must address a security system for both Russia and Ukraine after the conflict.
President Donald Trump sounded more optimistic. “The other day I was talking to Vladimir Putin about settling his war with Ukraine, which I think we’re getting closer to, by the way, maybe now the closest we’ve been,” he said Wednesday. Witkoff called his talks with Putin “constructive.” Jared Kushner, who joined by video, said there was “still hard work ahead” but a “real opportunity” for lasting peace.
Zelensky told Fox News on Wednesday that he would accept a deal freezing the war along the current front line. “Freeze and stop. And of course this is minimum what we need from Russia today,” he said, adding that security guarantees could be discussed afterward. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha struck a harder note Thursday: “Appeasement, servility, and flattery will not stop this war,” he wrote on X. “Only strength will.”
Ushakov said Putin told Witkoff Russian forces held the initiative across the front. Ukraine and its European allies dispute that account, pointing to a virtual stalemate. Russia controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory following its full-scale invasion in 2022. Three-way talks were paused in February; Russia has blamed their disruption on Ukrainian strikes during its general elections last month.
Russia also released Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American jailed for allegedly fighting for Ukraine, before the Putin-Witkoff meeting. Trump said no prisoner swap was needed. The diplomatic push comes amid disagreements over Trump’s easing of Russia-related sanctions and Ukrainian accusations, rejected by U.S. officials, that Washington withheld warnings about incoming Russian missiles.
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