Drones, missiles pound Ukraine ahead of Zelensky-Trump meeting

State grid operator Ukrenergo said energy facilities across Ukraine were hit and emergency power outages were imposed in the capital.

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said the attack left more than a million households in Kiev and surrounding areas without electricity, 750,000 of whom remained without electricity by the afternoon.

Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said that more than 40 percent of the residences in Kiev remained unheated as the temperature hovered around 0 degrees Celsius on Saturday.

Territorial control: a diplomatic hurdle

On his way to meet Trump in Florida, Zelensky stopped in Halifax, Canada, to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

In his brief statement with Zelensky at his side, Carney noted that peace “requires a willing Russia.”

Announcing that he would provide 2.5 billion Canadian dollars (2.7 billion US dollars) in additional economic aid to Ukraine, he said: “The barbarism we saw overnight – the attack on Kiev – shows how important it is for us to stand with Ukraine at this difficult time.”

After the meeting, Zelensky spoke with European leaders. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later said on

The territory and future of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant occupied by Russia continue to be among the diplomatic obstacles. But Zelensky told reporters in Kiev on Friday that the 20-article draft document, the cornerstone of the US effort to finalize the peace deal, was 90 percent complete.

He said the form of U.S. security guarantees is crucial and that they will depend on Trump and “what he is prepared to give, when he is prepared to give it, and for how long.”

Zelensky told axios Earlier this week, the United States had proposed a 15-year agreement subject to renewal on security guarantees, but Kiev wanted a longer agreement with legally binding provisions to guard against further Russian aggression.

Trump said that the driving force behind the process was the United States.

Trump: ‘You have nothing until I approve’ Policy. “Then we’ll see what you’ve got.”

Trump said he believes Sunday’s meeting will go well. He also said he expected to talk to Putin “soon, as much as I want.”

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The fate of Donetsk is important

Moscow is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from the large and densely urbanized eastern region of Donetsk, which Russian troops have failed to occupy in nearly four years of war. Kyiv wants clashes to stop on existing lines.

Russia continues to slowly advance throughout 2025 at the cost of significant losses on the drone-infested battlefield.

Both sides on Saturday made conflicting claims about two frontline towns: Myrnohrad in the east and Huliaipole in the south. Moscow claimed to have captured both, while Kiev said it had repelled Russian attacks there.

According to the US compromise, a free economic zone would be established if Ukrainian troops withdraw from parts of the Donetsk region, but the details have not yet been resolved.

axios Zelensky was quoted as saying that if he could not persuade the United States to support Ukraine’s position on the territorial issue, Russia was willing to submit the 20-point plan to a referendum on the condition that Ukraine accept a 60-day ceasefire that would allow Ukraine to prepare and hold a vote.

On Saturday, Zelensky said it was not possible to hold such a referendum at a time when Russia is bombing Ukrainian cities.

He also said he would be ready to “dialogue” with the Ukrainian people if they disagreed on any point of the plan.

According to the Interfax-Russia news agency, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Kiev’s version of the 20-point plan differs from what Russia has discussed with the United States.

But he expressed optimism that matters had reached a “turning point” in the search for a solution.

Reuters