Ukraine-Russia warfare newest: Zelensky to satisfy Starmer and EU allies as Trump says Kyiv ‘isn’t prepared’ for peace deal

Leaders from seven EU member states have been calling for the bloc to move ahead quickly with the proposal to use frozen Russian assets to provide financing to Ukraine.

“Supporting Ukraine in their fight for freedom and independence is not only a moral obligation it is also in our own self-interest,” the leaders from Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden said in a letter sent to EU Council president Antonio Costa and EU Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen.

“We must therefore move ahead quickly on the Commission’s proposals to use the cash balances from Russia’s immobilized assets for a reparations loan to Ukraine.”

Russia has attacked Ukraine with 149 drones overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force has said in its daily update.

Air defences downed 131 of the drones, but some managed to hit their targets.

Strikes were recorded by 16 drones across 11 locations in the country’s “north, south and east”, the update read.

The drones were launched from the Russian cities of Bryansk, Oryol, Kursk, Primorsko-Akhtarsk and Millerovo, as well as from temporarily occupied Donetsk and Cape Chuda in Crimea, the Air Force said according to Ukrainska Pravda.

As we reported earlier, Sir Keir Starmer will welcome Volodymyr Zelensky to Downing Street to discuss peace plans on Monday as Russia continues to bombard Ukraine.

The meeting, also attended by French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz, is expected to focus on how to respond to American proposals for ending the war with Russia.

Mr Zelensky’s visit to London comes after his officials concluded three days of talks with their US counterparts on those proposals as the White House presses Kyiv to accept a deal.

Over the weekend, Mr Zelensky said he had discussed “next steps” with Donald Trump’s advisers and was “determined to keep working in good faith”. But the negotiators also acknowledged that any “real progress” will depend “on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace”.

Sir Keir has repeatedly said that Ukraine must be allowed to determine its own future, while one of his senior ministers said on Sunday that the country must not be left “toothless” in the face of Russian aggression.

The leaders will hope the meeting proves to be more than a photo op – but a real breakthrough in peace negotiations will as ever remain in the hands of the US and Russia.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni reaffirmed Italy’s backing for the ongoing efforts to achieve a peace agreement in Ukraine during a phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky, according to a government spokesperson.

Zelensky is scheduled to meet with UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron, and Germany’s Friedrich Merz at Downing Street today to discuss the newest US-led attempts to bring the conflict to an end.

The spokesperson said Meloni conveyed Italy’s solidarity after another wave of Russian strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine.

In the statement, the government said: “Ukraine’s reiterated willingness to sit in good faith at the negotiating table is instrumental to this process.”

It added that “The hope that Russia will demonstrate a similar openness was therefore reiterated.”

President Donald Trump yesterday claimed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky “isn’t ready” to sign off on a US-authored peace proposal aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump was critical of Zelensky after US and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks on Saturday aimed at trying to narrow differences on the US administration’s proposal.

But in an exchange with reporters last night, Trump suggested that the Ukrainian leader is holding up the talks from moving forward.

“I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelensky hasn’t yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago. His people love it, but he hasn’t,” Trump claimed in an exchange with reporters before taking part in the Kennedy Center Honors.

The president added: “Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelensky’s fine with it. His people love it. But he isn’t ready.”

Russian president Vladimir Putin hasn’t publicly expressed approval for the White House plan.

In fact, Putin last week had said that aspects of Trump’s proposal were unworkable, even though the original draft heavily favoured Moscow.

Volodymyr Zelensky will be briefed about his team’s discussions with US officials and receive all documents related to the peace plan on Monday, Kyiv’s senior negotiator Rustem Umerov said.

The negotiator has said that the primary task of Kyiv’s negotiating team during recent talks was to be fully informed on US conversations in Moscow and all drafts of current proposals.

“Together with all partners, we must do everything possible for a dignified end to this war,” he said.

Volodymyr Zelensky described his latest call with Italy’s Giorgia Meloni as “very substantive,” saying they discussed his recent talks with the US in Miami and the “existing prospects and challenges”.

He stressed that “there is still work to be done together to ensure that Russia genuinely commits to ending the war”, and noted Italy’s backing for long-term security measures to prevent future conflict.

According to Zelenskyy, “Italy clearly supports the need for real security and for preventing any renewed outbreaks of war. We are preparing joint efforts in Europe to make diplomacy work”.

Russia insists that the peace proposal still needs “radical changes” before Moscow can accept it, according to some local media reports.

Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said the US must “make serious, I would say, radical changes to their papers” on Ukraine.

His remarks contrast sharply with comments from US envoy Keith Kellogg, who earlier suggested an agreement was “really close”, with only two obstacles remaining: the status of the Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Territory remains the key point of contention. Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out ceding land, arguing that doing so would only invite future Russian aggression.

The first draft of the US plan, however, proposed that Ukraine relinquish Donetsk and Luhansk – despite Kyiv still holding significant parts of the Donbas.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Washington, Olga Stefanishyna, earlier said that “difficult issues remain”, in the talks between the US and Ukraine.

She told CNN that the “main challenges at this stage concern questions of territory and guarantees, and we are actively seeking optimal formats for addressing them”.

The Kremlin has portrayed Donald Trump’s newly released national security strategy as a positive shift that closely mirrors Russia’s own perspective.

Moscow’s reaction comes after the White House unveiled the document on Friday, a report that takes aim at the EU and warns that Europe faces the threat of “civilisational erasure”, while also signalling Washington’s desire to improve ties with Moscow.

“The adjustments that we see correspond in many ways to our vision,” the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said yesterday.

He welcomed signals that the Trump administration was “in favour of dialogue and building good relations”.

He warned, however, that the supposed US “deep state” could try to sabotage Trump’s vision.

At least seven people were hurt after Russian drones hit a residential building in Okhtyrka, a city in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, according to governor Oleh Hryhorov.

The Sumy region, which borders Russia, has been subjected to almost continuous shelling and drone strikes since Moscow began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with the conflict now approaching its fourth year.

In a message posted on Telegram, Hryhorov said the injured residents were taken to a hospital, where two were admitted for further care, while the remaining victims were treated and later released.

He reported that the multi-storey building suffered significant destruction and noted that some occupants managed to reach the basement after air-raid alerts, while emergency responders helped evacuate others from higher floors.

The Independent is unable to independently confirm the details, and Moscow has not yet issued a response to the incident.

Both Ukraine and Russia maintain that they do not intentionally target civilians, although thousands — most of them Ukrainian — have been killed since the war began.