Russia Strikes Ukraine After Trump–Zelenskyy Peace Talks

Almost 1,500 residential and 119 commercial customers were without power in the Lubny district as a result of the attack, regional Governor Volodymyr Kohut said. Several ballistic missiles and scores of drones were employed, and energy infrastructure was thought to be the primary target. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.

Diplomatic Talks in Washington
Earlier Monday, Trump had hosted Zelenskyy, the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO at a rare summit in Washington. The talks centred on granting Ukraine credible security assurances as a part of any future deal to end the war, which has killed more than 10,000 and brought destruction to eastern Ukraine, now in its third year and five months.

The meeting came just days after Trump held a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Trump met Zelenskyy in a one-on-one setting before a multilateral session with European leaders, in which the US president later announced he had spoken with Putin about setting up a possible trilateral summit with himself, Putin and Zelenskyy.

Ceasefire Hopes Fade
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said Monday was "a big day of diplomacy," but Ukrainian officials drew attention to the fact that Moscow's actions do not support the rhetoric. Putin told Trump of peace even as Russian forces again rocketed the town of Kremenchuk in a huge attack, Kohut said, showing "Putin does not want peace — he wants to destroy Ukraine."

Air raid warnings went off in large swathes of Ukraine, including Kyiv, and cities as near the front line as Kharkiv and Poltava came under threat. The most recent strikes will only help to further dash hopes of a ceasefire. Trump had previously threatened Vladimir Putin with "severe consequences" if he struck relief before a "ceasefire" (a term that Trump and Putin used to describe a peace settlement rather than an immediate halt to fighting despite its conventional meaning).