By Christian Edwards, Svitlana Vlasova, Laura Sharman, Victoria Butenko
Russia launched a large-scale overnight attack on Kyiv after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he plans to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump in Florida Sunday, as efforts continue to end the nearly four-year war in Eastern Europe.
The aerial attack killed at least one person and injured at least 28 people including 13 who were hospitalized, according to Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko.
Klitschko said more than 2,600 residential buildings are currently without heating, as well as 187 kindergartens, 138 schools and 22 social institutions in the capital, amid freezing temperatures.
The attack lasted nearly 10 hours in total, making it one of the longest of the year.
Speaking on board a plane bound for the United States Saturday, Zelensky repeated calls for the bolstering of Ukraine’s air defenses, saying the country needed more missiles amid Russia’s relentless attacks. “The support of Europeans is important to us today. We do not have enough additional air defence systems,” he said.
Ahead of meeting Trump, Zelensky is stopping in Canada for talks with President Mark Carney.
On Friday, Zelensky told reporters that the 20-point peace plan hammered out by Ukrainian and US officials is “90% ready” and that he planned to discuss with Trump how Ukraine’s allies could guarantee its security in the future.
Trump said in an interview with Politico that he expects the meeting to “go good,” but cautioned that Zelensky “doesn’t have anything until I approve it.” He added that he also expects to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin “soon, as much as I want.”
In total, Russia launched nearly 500 drones and 40 missiles at Ukraine overnight, Zelensky said Saturday morning, adding that while Russian officials are engaging in talks to end fighting, the ongoing violence speaks for itself.
The most recent strikes primarily targeted energy and civilian infrastructure in the capital city, Kyiv, Zelensky said.
“In some districts of the capital and the region, electricity and heating are currently unavailable,” he said. “Firefighting efforts are underway.”
A CNN reporter in the capital heard attack drones flying overhead and a series of explosions early Saturday, when Air Force warnings were in place.
Fires broke out across the city, engulfing a car repair shop and several residential buildings, and forcing elderly residents to evacuate a care home as flames spread, according to Kyiv Emergency Service.
Pointing to Russia’s recent engagement in talks with US representatives to end fighting in the country, Zelensky wrote on X in the wake of the attack that “Russian representatives engage in lengthy talks, but in reality, Kinzhals and ‘shaheds’ speak for them.”
He added, “This is the true attitude of Putin and his inner circle.”
In response to the attacks, Poland scrambled fighter jets and temporarily closed two airports, Reuters reported, citing a post by the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency on X.
The shutdowns of Rzeszow and Lublin airports, in the country’s southeast, were triggered by “unplanned military activity related to ensuring state security,” according to a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) posted on the US Federal Aviation Administration’s website.
US officials said they were hopeful that Sunday’s Zelensky-Trump meeting would be productive after a week of intensive efforts between US and Ukrainian negotiators. While officials did not cite a specific goal for the meeting, Zelensky told Axios Friday that he wanted to conclude a framework to end the war.
The meeting is not expected to include any European leaders, according to US and European officials. However, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will join a call Saturday with Zelensky, Trump and other European leaders, a commission spokesperson told Reuters.
The Ukrainians have been pushing for a meeting between Zelensky and Trump for months, European officials said. The Europeans expect a positive meeting because they describe the current dynamic between the US and Ukraine as productive. Still, they acknowledge that the outcome of any meeting with Trump is unpredictable.
“There is no low-risk scenario with Trump,” said one NATO official.
In preparation for Sunday’s meeting, Zelensky said Friday that he had spoken with the leaders of NATO, Canada, Germany, Finland, Denmark and Estonia to coordinate their positions. “Ukraine has never been and will never be an obstacle to peace, and we will continue working efficiently to ensure all necessary documents are prepared as quickly as possible,” he said.
Zelensky’s announcement comes after he offered to compromise on some of the thorniest issues that have so far stalled the US-mediated peace process with Russia. It is not clear, however, whether Zelensky’s concessions will satisfy the Kremlin.
Asked about Zelensky’s potential willingness to consider territorial concessions for a peace deal, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN that “giving up the rest of Donetsk could contribute significantly.”
The initial 28-point peace plan, which emerged in November following talks between the United States and Russia, was criticized by Ukraine’s allies as heavily favoring Moscow. Following weeks of talks between Ukrainian and US officials, that draft has been slimmed down to the current 20-point plan, which Zelensky has said can serve as a “foundational document on ending the war.”
Latest on peace negotiations
Zelensky told reporters that Ukraine had not received an official response from the Kremlin to the latest proposal. He said Kyiv is negotiating exclusively with Washington, which in turn is communicating with Moscow.
If Russia does not agree to the peace plan drafted by Ukraine and the United States, Zelensky suggested that more should be done to force Moscow’s hand. “If Ukraine shows its position, it is constructive – and Russia, for example, does not agree, then the (existing) pressure is not enough,” Zelensky said, adding that he wants to discuss this with Trump.
Russia’s central demands are for Ukraine to abandon its ambition to join NATO – which was a distant prospect before Moscow launched its all-out invasion of the country in February 2022 – and for Kyiv’s military to withdraw fully from Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, a vast area known as the Donbas. It was here that the Kremlin started destabilizing Ukraine in 2014, helping pro-Russian separatists gain control of most of the area. The Donbas was eventually illegally annexed by Russia in September 2022.
Zelensky has offered concessions on both issues. During a wide-ranging press conference Tuesday to discuss the new 20-point peace plan, Zelensky said Ukraine was seeking security guarantees from its allies that would “mirror” NATO’s Article 5 – which requires all members to defend any member that has come under attack – but would no longer pursue full membership of the military alliance.
Zelensky also said Ukraine would be willing to withdraw its troops from parts of the Donetsk region not currently occupied by Russian forces. The Ukrainian leader said any withdrawal of troops would have to be reciprocal, with Moscow giving up as much Ukrainian territory as that ceded by Kyiv and those pockets of the Donbas becoming demilitarized as a result. Earlier this month, Zelensky noted that US negotiators wanted these territories to become “free economic zones” once all troops were withdrawn.
Ukraine’s constitution requires any changes to the country’s borders to be approved in a referendum. Zelensky reiterated Friday that “the fate of Ukraine should be decided by the people of Ukraine” and said Ukraine’s allies “have enough power to force Russia or to negotiate with the Russians” to ensure that any such plebiscite could be carried out safely.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Darya Tarasova, Tim Lister, Kylie Atwood and Sophie Tanno contributed to this article.
