Zelensky: Kremlin position unchanged

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Moscow firing ballistic missiles at Ukraine shortly after talks between United States envoy Steve Witkoff and Russia’s Vladimir Putin showed the Kremlin’s position on the war had not changed, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday.

The Kremlin had said it was willing to restart trilateral talks with Kyiv and Washington next month, though dismissed new ideas brought by Witkoff — developed with European countries and Ukraine — as lacking substance.

Russia hit a dozen Ukrainian regions overnight, including Kyiv, killing at least two people and wounding 34, Zelensky said, adding that children were among those hurt.

Residential houses, energy sites, a shopping mall and a monastery had been damaged in Kyiv, where Russia has significantly intensified its strikes ahead of winter.

Zelensky said the latest strikes began “almost immediately” after US President Donald Trump’s envoy Witkoff held hours-long talks with Putin in Saint Petersburg.

Russia also said it had downed 808 Ukrainian drones fired overnight and that two people were wounded in Moscow.

Witkoff faced widespread criticism for calling Putin a “humanitarian” after Moscow released an elderly US citizen who had been jailed on charges of fighting for Ukraine as a “mercenary.”

Trump sought an optimistic tone as his envoy returned from Russia, saying Wednesday that negotiators were “maybe now the closest we’ve been” to ending the war.

But in Kyiv and European capitals, hopes for a breakthrough were slim, with many worried the White House was siding with Moscow.

“Three waves of ballistic missiles have been launched at Kyiv by Russian ‘humanitarians’ since yesterday evening,” Zelensky said.

“Almost immediately after another round of talks, Russia launched a pointed attack. This means there has been no real change in its attitude towards everything that is happening.”

He called on allies to keep up “real pressure” on Moscow and for more air defense supplies.