Zelenskyy noted that restoration efforts in Sumy Oblast continued all day Wednesday after Russian drone strikes hit energy infrastructure, leaving over 220,000 subscribers without electricity and affecting hundreds of thousands of households.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday renewed his offer to meet with Russia's Vladimir Putin and negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, but hopes of progress were low as delegations prepared to hold another round of talks.

When Russian and Ukrainian peace negotiators met last month, they could agree on little more than exchanging bodies. Those negotiations, brokered by the Trump administration, appeared to show its goal of ending the war was deeply stalled.

Russia is open to peace with Ukraine, but achieving its goals remains a priority, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday, days after U.S. President Donald Trump gave Moscow a 50-day deadline to agree to a ceasefire or face tougher sanctions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Saturday that Defence Council Secretary Rustem Umerov had made an offer for a meeting with Russian negotiators for next week. Meanwhile, earlier, Trump set a 50-day deadline for Moscow to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine or face "100 percent tariffs".

President Donald Trump on Friday said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “coming to a head” and insisted that neither side is “playing” him in his push to end the grinding war.

He didn’t single out Russia or Ukraine as blocking peace efforts. ... Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “fairly complex” negotiations are ongoing between Russia and the U.S.