One killed in Russian attack on Ukraine hours before Trump-Zelenskyy talks

Russia launched a major missile and drone attack on Kyiv on Saturday (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

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 hosts 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 Zelenskyy on Sunday, Mr Trump said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Florida for talks with Donald Trump (Omar Havana/AP)

“I just had a good and very productive telephone call with President Putin,” he posted on Truth Social. The Kremlin confirmed the call without giving details.

On Saturday, Mr Zelenskyy said: “Ukraine is willing to do whatever it takes to stop this war. We need to be strong at the negotiating table.”

He warned the latest bombardment of Kyiv showed Russia’s “desire to continue the war”, but said “if the whole world – Europe and America – is on our side, together we will stop” Mr Putin.

Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy sitting down face-to-face underscores the apparent progress made by Mr Trump’s top negotiators in recent weeks as the sides traded draft peace plans and continued to shape a proposal to end the fighting.

Mr Zelenskyy told reporters on Friday the 20-point draft proposal negotiators have discussed is “about 90% ready” – echoing a figure, and the optimism, that US officials conveyed when Mr Trump’s chief negotiators met with the Ukrainian leader in Berlin earlier this month.

During the recent talks, the US agreed to offer certain security guarantees to Ukraine similar to those offered to other members of Nato. The proposal came as Mr Zelenskyy said he was prepared to drop his country’s bid to join the security alliance if it receives Nato-like protection that would be designed to safeguard it against future Russian attacks.