Russia launched dozens of drones at Ukrainian targets overnight, the latest in a series of air strikes that have dampened hopes of an end to the war in Ukraine following last week's summit in Alaska.
The Ukrainian military said it had shot down or intercepted nearly three dozen of the more than 50 drones launched by Russia early this morning. It is not yet known if there were any casualties or damage on the ground.
The total number of drones was down from Russian strikes earlier in the week. The Russian strike on August 21 targeted sites in western Ukraine — a relatively rare occurrence — including a U.S. manufacturing plant. The company said several workers were injured in the attack.
Ukrainian emergency services announced today that firefighters have finally extinguished the fire at the factory.
Frustrations over the lack of progress following the August 15 summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska were visible in public on August 22, when Trump hinted that the option of imposing new sanctions on Russia was back on the table.
The White House had previously said a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was possible. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said no such meeting was planned.
"Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky when the agenda for the summit is ready," Lavrov said in an interview with NBC News broadcast yesterday. "And that agenda is not ready at all right now."
Putin, meanwhile, praised Trump, describing him as "the light at the end of the tunnel" for US-Russia relations.
"Our relations with the United States are at one of the lowest levels since the end of World War II," Putin said yesterday during a visit to Sarov, the historic center of Russia's nuclear program. "But with the arrival of President Trump, I think there is finally light at the end of the tunnel."
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he wanted to see if there would be a meeting between Putin and Zelensky before deciding on new sanctions. He set a two-week deadline for a decision — a deadline he has frequently announced and then postponed.
"Then I will make a decision about what we will do, and it will be a very important decision," he said. "Whether it is massive sanctions, massive tariffs, or both. Or I will do nothing and say, 'This is your war.'"
Zelensky accused Russia of doing everything it could to prevent a direct meeting between him and Putin.
Zelensky has repeatedly invited Putin to a meeting, but Putin considers him an illegitimate leader, citing the fact that new elections have not been held in Ukraine.
The state of war prevents Ukraine from holding elections, although Ukrainian officials have signaled openness to the possibility.
"The meeting is one of the components of how to end the war," Zelensky said yesterday at a press conference in Kiev alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. "And since they don't want to end it, they will look for a way to avoid it."
The possibility of US-backed security guarantees for Ukraine was also discussed during the Alaska summit, and European leaders have accelerated efforts to specify the form of those guarantees.
Zelensky said he had discussed the topic with Rutte, stressing that the guarantees should be similar to NATO's Article 5, which defines an attack on one member as an attack on all members of the alliance.
"Strong security guarantees will be key, and that is exactly what we are working on now," Zelensky said.
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