Zelensky says US envoys have ‘very good’ ideas to end Russia’s war on Ukraine

Both countries resumed their deadly air war on Tuesday after a brief weekend truce in their capitals for the American visitors (Francisco Seco/AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that US envoys on a visit to Kyiv presented some “very good, worthwhile ideas” for ending his country’s war with Russia.

Mr Zelensky added that he hoped to meet US President Donald Trump within two weeks.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Moscow is determined to accomplish its goals in Ukraine and indicated that Russia believes it is close to winning the war, more than four years after it invaded its neighbour.

Ukrainian and western observers say this is not true.

Washington envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visited Moscow and Kyiv for separate talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mr Zelensky at the weekend.

The meetings appeared to produce no significant breakthrough that might soon end the fighting, and both countries resumed their deadly air war on Tuesday after a brief weekend truce in their capitals for the American visitors.

The aerial attacks killed at least three civilians and wounded 16 others in Kyiv, officials said, while Russian officials reported three people killed and 13 wounded in Moscow-run areas.

Mr Zelensky said he is counting on meeting Mr Trump around September 20. This is around the time that the UN General Assembly is being held in New York.

The Ukrainian leader indicated he will press Mr Trump to provide more Patriot air defence systems that Kyiv needs to counter Russia’s ballistic missiles.

He thanked Washington officials for their efforts to unblock negotiations with Russia, which have been stuck since early this year with little progress.

“As for the peace package that Kushner spoke about and the new ideas, I’ll tell you frankly, there were indeed a couple of very good, worthwhile ideas,” Mr Zelensky said in audio messages answering reporters’ questions.

The proposals will remain under wraps for now, he said, but he expressed hope that trilateral talks between delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the US can take place in the autumn.

He noted that Ukraine is “ready to find a compromise” on the issue of grain exports and energy.

Moscow and Kyiv have targeted each other’s grain ships in the Black Sea, raising concerns that two of the world’s major suppliers will not be able to get their produce to market.

Ukraine has also battered Russian oil facilities, while Russia has pounded Ukraine’s power grid ahead of winter.

A Moscow official struck a cooler note on recent developments in negotiations.

“We’re convinced the victory is very close. We’re very confident in our military potential,” Mr Peskov told reporters, while insisting Russia wants to find a peaceful solution and welcomes Mr Trump’s diplomatic efforts.

Mr Putin has sought to portray Russia as negotiating from a position of strength in the war. But European officials and western analysts say its bigger army is unable to make significant progress on the 800-mile (1,250km) front line, where it is pushing to capture the eastern Donetsk region, part of Ukraine’s industrial heartland.

“Russian forces will not seize Donetsk… until 2032 at their current rate of advance — if they can seize it at all,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said on Sunday.

“The Russian rate of advance has slowed significantly across the theatre since 2025, when Russia’s rate of advance had already begun to slow.”

With troops bogged down on the battlefield, both countries have intensified their aerial campaign of drones and missiles.

Russia’s main targets in its overnight attack were Kyiv and the southern Odesa region. At least 16 people were wounded in Kyiv, Ukraine’s interior minister Ivan Vyhivskyi said. There was no immediate tally of casualties in Odesa.

Explosions were heard in Kyiv for nearly five hours, according to Mr Vyhivskyi. More than 50 sites were damaged in Kyiv during the Russian overnight attack on Tuesday, including residential buildings, dormitories, schools, shops, petrol stations and a flour production plant, he said.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha called it “a horrific attack” and accused Mr Putin of undermining US peace efforts.

“His ballistic missiles speak louder than his words on diplomacy,” Mr Sybiha said on X, referring to Mr Putin.

“Strike after strike on residential buildings brings him no closer to winning this war — it is nothing but senseless terror.”

The Russian defence ministry said its forces launched a massive strike on Ukrainian military industry facilities overnight.

It provided a detailed list of its targets, including locations where Ukrainian drones and cruise missiles were stored, as well as transport, logistics and distribution centres for military cargo in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, the ministry said.

Infrastructure in the port of Chornomorsk in the Odesa region used for “unloading military cargo” was also struck.