One killed in Russian attack on Ukraine hours before Trump-Zelensky talks
Local officials said three guided aerial bombs struck private homes in Sloviansk overnight into Sunday.
One man has died and three other people were injured in a Russian bomb attack in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, hours before US President Donald Trump hosted his Ukrainian counterpart for talks aimed at finalising a peace agreement.
Local officials said three guided aerial bombs launched by Russia struck private homes in Sloviansk overnight into Sunday.
That came a day after Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital with ballistic missiles and drones, killing at least one person and wounding 27.
Explosions boomed across Kyiv as the attack began early on Saturday and continued for hours.
In advance of his meeting in Florida with Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, Mr Trump said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I just had a good and very productive telephone call with President Putin,” he posted on Truth Social.
Mr Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said the call was initiated by the US, lasted more than an hour, and was “friendly, benevolent, and businesslike”.
Mr Ushakov added that a “bold, responsible, political decision is needed from Kyiv” on the fiercely contested Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and other matters in dispute for there to be a “complete cessation” of hostilities.
Greeting Mr Zelensky at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Mr Trump said of him: “This gentleman has worked very hard, and is very brave, and his people are very brave.”
Mr Zelensky, by Mr Trump’s side, said he would discuss issues of territorial concessions with the US leader, which have so far been a red line for his country. He said his negotiators and Mr Trump’s “have discussed how to move step by step and bring peace closer”, and would continue to do so.
Mr Trump said he would call Mr Putin again after the meeting with Mr Zelensky, and also reach out to European leaders who he said “have been really great”.
But he tempered his optimism about ending the conflict, saying: “It’ll either end or it’s going to go on for a long time and millions of additional people will be killed.”
