Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday (August 29, 2025) that Ukrainian officials want to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders next week to discuss recent developments in efforts to end the three-year war with Russia.

The proposed meetings appeared designed to add momentum to the push for peace, as Mr. Zelenskyy expressed frustration with what he called Russia’s lack of constructive engagement in the process while it continues to launch devastating aerial attacks on civilian areas.

Mr. Trump has bristled at Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s stalling on a U.S. proposal for direct peace talks with Mr. Zelenskyy, and said a week ago he expected to decide on next steps in two weeks if direct talks aren’t scheduled.

Mr. Trump complained last month that Mr. Putin “ talks nice and then he bombs everybody.” But he has also chided Ukraine for its attacks.

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday, the United States warned Russia to move toward peace and meet with Ukraine or face possible sanctions. The meeting was called after a major Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight from Wednesday to Thursday that killed at least 23 people

John Kelley, the U.S. mission’s minister-counsellor, said the strikes “cast doubt on the seriousness of Russia’s desire for peace” and demanded they stop. He said Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelenskyy must agree to meet, and reiterated Trump’s warning that the U.S. could impose sanctions on Russia if the war continues.

Zelenskyy’s top adviser meets Trump’s special envoy in New York

Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, met on Friday in New York with Mr. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss preparations for upcoming meetings.

“The key priority is to push forward real diplomacy and ensure the implementation of all the agreements reached at the Washington summit,” Mr. Yermak said in a social media post. “We are coordinating our efforts.”

Mr. Yermak said he had briefed Mr. Witkoff on Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine and lamented that Mr. Putin had shown no willingness to engage in peace efforts despite his meeting with Mr. Trump in Alaska this month.

“Unfortunately, Russia is failing to fulfill anything necessary to end the war and is clearly dragging out the hostilities,” Mr. Yermak wrote in a lengthy post on X. “Ukraine supports President Trump’s firm resolve, as well as that of all partners, to achieve a lasting peace as soon as possible. Ukraine welcomes all peace initiatives put forward by the United States. But unfortunately, each of them is being stalled by Russia.”

Of the meeting, a White House official said only that Mr. Yermak and Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador extraordinary, gave Mr. Witkoff a status update on the war and Russia’s strikes on Kyiv this week. The official was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mr. Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv that he expected “several meetings at different venues” with European leaders next week.

Ukrainian negotiators have been trying to move the peace process forward in talks in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland and the United States, he said.

Ukraine has accepted a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire and a meeting between Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelenskyy, but Moscow has raised objections.

Ukraine wants leaders involved

Mr. Zelenskyy accused Russia of dragging out negotiations, including by putting off a Russia-Ukraine summit with the argument that the groundwork for a possible peace settlement must be thrashed out first by lower officials before leaders meet.

That reasoning, Mr. Zelenskyy said, is “artificial … because they want to show the United States that they are constructive, but they are not constructive.”

“In my opinion, leaders must urgently be involved to reach agreements,” Mr. Zelenskyy added.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Friday reiterated Moscow’s long-held position that Mr. Putin “doesn’t rule out” meeting Mr. Zelenskyy, but only after progress is made “at the expert level.”

A summit “must be well prepared so that it can finalise the work that must first be carried out at the expert level,” Mr. Peskov told reporters during his daily conference call.

“At this point we can’t say that the expert work is in full swing, so to speak. No, unfortunately, not. We maintain our interest and our readiness for these negotiations,” he said.

Zelenskyy says more weapons are crucial for security

Mr. Zelenskyy urged swift secondary sanctions on countries that trade with Russia and thereby support its war economy.

He said the possible postwar security guarantees being assessed by Western countries to deter another Russian invasion in the future must include a secure supply of weapons for Ukraine, either through domestic production or Western provision, and U.S. weapons paid for by Europe.

Mr. Zelenskyy’s comments came after the death toll in a major Russian missile and drone strike on the Ukrainian capital rose to 23, including four children, officials said Friday. Ukraine needs more sophisticated Western air defence systems to counter such attacks.

Kyiv region observes a day of mourning

Authorities in the Kyiv region declared Friday an official day of mourning. Flags flew at half-staff and all entertainment events were cancelled after Russia hammered Ukraine with almost 600 drones and more than 30 missiles overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, including rare strikes on downtown Kyiv.

Rescue workers pulled 17 people from the rubble after the attack, among them four children, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. The youngest victim was a 2-year-old girl. Some bodies have yet to be identified, and eight people remain unaccounted for, authorities said. More than 50 people were wounded.

More diplomatic moves lie ahead

Mr. Putin is due to attend a meeting in China from Sunday that will also include Iran and North Korea, countries that have aided Russia’s war effort, according to the United States.

The war in Ukraine is certain to be a top issue at the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly from Sept. 22 to Sept. 29.

The Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, noted that recent U.S. Presidents have shied away from taking a tougher line with Mr. Putin for fear of a potential nuclear conflict.

“Putin knows that Washington and its allies have more than enough capacity to reverse his gains in Ukraine, but it is nearly certain that he doubts the United States has the will to do so,” the Atlantic Council said in an assessment this week.

It added that “the second Trump administration has repeatedly signalled that the United States has no vital interests at stake in this war.”

Published – August 30, 2025 06:54 am IST

Russian President Vladimir Putin. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday (January 28, 2025) that his country could hold peace talks with Ukraine, but ruled out speaking directly with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom he called “illegitimate”.

The Ukrainian leader responded by saying that Mr. Putin was “afraid” of negotiations and was using “cynical tricks” to prolong the nearly three-year conflict.

U.S. President Donald Trump has put pressure on both sides to end the fighting since assuming office on January 20, threatening tougher sanctions on Russia while claiming that Mr. Zelenskyy is ready to negotiate a “deal”.

Also Read | Putin says Ukraine conflict could have been avoided had Trump been in office

“If (Zelenskyy) wants to participate in the negotiations, I will allocate people to take part,” Mr. Putin said, calling the Ukrainian leader “illegitimate” because his Presidential term expired during martial law.

“If there is a desire to negotiate and find a compromise, let anyone lead the negotiations there… Naturally, we will strive for what suits us, what corresponds to our interests,” he added.

Mr. Zelenskyy said that there was a chance to achieve “real peace” but that the Kremlin chief was frustrating efforts to stop the fighting.

“Today, Putin once again confirmed that he is afraid of negotiations, afraid of strong leaders, and does everything possible to prolong the war,” Mr. Zelenskyy wrote on X.

Kyiv has warned against it being excluded from any peace talks between Russia and the US, accusing Putin of wanting to “manipulate” Trump.

Everything would be over

Mr. Putin also claimed the fighting would end in two months or less if the West cut its support to Kyiv.

“They will not exist for a month if the money and, in a broad sense, the bullets run out. Everything would be over in a month and a half or two,” Mr. Putin said in comments to a State TV reporter.

The conflict has shown no signs of de-escalating despite Mr. Trump’s promise to enact a quick ceasefire once in office.

Russia said Wednesday it had downed more than 100 Ukrainian drones in an overnight attack, while Kyiv’s military said Moscow had launched an overnight drone attack of its own.

Russia’s army said Tuesday that its forces had captured a large village in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, the latest territorial gain for Moscow’s advancing troops.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had “liberated” the village of Dvorichna, which had a pre-conflict population of more than 3,000.

The village, located across the strategic Oskil river, was seized by Moscow at the start of its full-scale military offensive in 2022, before being retaken by Kyiv months later in a swift counter-offensive.

Ukrainian military bloggers, with links to the defence ministry, also said Russian forces were advancing on the flanks of Chasiv Yar, a strategic hilltop town that was home to around 12,000 people before the conflict.

Ukraine’s army has been pushed back over the past year, outgunned and outmanned by Russia’s troops across the 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) front line.

Ukraine’s government dismissed a deputy Defence Minister in charge of weapons purchases on Tuesday after the defence minister accused him of having “failed” to ensure the “timely supply of ammunition” to soldiers.