Russia strikes Kyiv as Zelenskiy’s peace talks with Trump continue

Russia struck Kyiv with missiles and sent residents scrambling for shelter just hours after Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke with Donald Trump and European leaders, a timing that laid bare how little diplomatic progress can mean while the war keeps producing fresh blasts. The Kyiv military administration warned the capital was under ballistic-missile threat and told people to stay in safe places until the alert ended.

Explosions were heard across Kyiv, while air-raid alerts spread across most of Ukraine. In Sumy, authorities said one person was killed in a drone attack. The strikes added another violent turn to a war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has continued to punish cities, infrastructure and civilians despite repeated efforts to force a settlement.

The attack on June 18 was the second on Kyiv that week. A major Russian strike earlier in the week killed 10 people and badly damaged a 1,000-year-old monastery that stands as a symbol of Ukraine’s spiritual and cultural heritage. That earlier assault drew condemnation from European leaders, and the latest barrage again put pressure on allies to match diplomatic language with concrete military support.

Zelenskiy said he had spoken with Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France, describing it as a “coordinating conversation” aimed at ending the war. He has been pressing for stronger backing as Ukraine seeks more air defenses, more long-range weapons and firmer Western guarantees against future attacks.

Trump said Russia should make a deal, called the war “ridiculous” and said he would do whatever he could to help end it. He also said Russia had lost tremendous numbers of people and noted that he had already spoken with Vladimir Putin. But the missiles over Kyiv, and the shelling and drone attacks elsewhere, made the limits of such talk plain. With Russian and Ukrainian forces still exchanging strikes, including Ukrainian drones hitting the Moscow refinery and setting off flames and thick smoke in Kapotnya for a second time in a week, the battlefield continued to set the terms of any peace effort.