KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia pounded Kyiv with an hourslong barrage of missiles and drones Thursday, killing at least 12 people in its deadliest assault on the Ukrainian capital since July and drawing a rare rebuke of Moscow from U.S. President Donald Trump just as peace efforts were coming to a head.

The attack kept residents on edge for about 11 hours, with many staying awake all night while loud explosions reverberated around the city and flashes of light punctuated the sky. Families gathered in public air-raid shelters, some of them bringing cats and dogs. The strikes that began around 1 a.m. hit at least five neighborhoods and heavily damaged multiple residential buildings. Around 90 people were wounded.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would cut short his official trip to South Africa and return home as the city reeled from the bombardment. It appeared to be Russia’s biggest attack on Kyiv in nine months, and Zelenskyy called it one of Russia’s “most outrageous.”

Trump, who has long been reluctant to criticize the Kremlin, said he was “not happy” with it. He implored Russian President Vladimir Putin, to cease the devastating strikes.

“Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

Senior U.S. officials have warned that the Trump administration could soon give up its efforts to stop the war if the two sides do not come to agreement to halt the fighting.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia fired 66 ballistic and cruise missiles, four plane-launched air-to-surface missiles, and 145 Shahed and decoy drones at Kyiv and four other regions of Ukraine. Rescue workers with flashlights scoured the charred rubble of partly collapsed homes as the blue lights of emergency vehicles lit up the dark city streets.

The attack came as weeks of peace negotiations appeared to be culminating without an agreement in sight and hours after Trump lashed out at Zelenskyy, accusing him of prolonging the “killing field” by refusing to surrender the Russia-occupied Crimea Peninsula as part of a possible deal.

Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko announced that Friday would be an official day of mourning in the capital.

Zelenskyy has repeated many times during the more than three-year war that recognizing occupied territory as Russian is a red line for his country. He noted Thursday that Ukraine agreed to a U.S. ceasefire proposal 44 days ago, as a first step to a negotiated peace, but that Russia’s attacks continued.

He said in South Africa that the latest attack meant the future of negotiations “depends on Russia’s intention because it is in Moscow where they have to make a decision.”

During recent talks, Russia has hit the city of Sumy, killing more than 30 civilians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, battered Odesa with drones and blasted Zaporizhzhia with powerful glide bombs.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the latest attack underscored that the main obstacle to ending the war is Russia.

“While claiming to seek peace, Russia launched a deadly airstrike on Kyiv,” she wrote on social media. “This isn’t a pursuit of peace, it’s a mockery of it.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said Putin should “stop lying” when he claims to want peace while continuing to bomb Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the attack showed that Putin is determined to press his bigger army’s advantage on the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where it currently holds the momentum.

“Putin demonstrates through his actions, not words, that he does not respect any peace efforts and only wants to continue the war,” Sybiha said on X. “Weakness and concessions will not stop his terror and aggression. Only strength and pressure will.”

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted that since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbor, Russian attacks have killed some 13,000 civilians, including 618 children.

At least 42 people were hospitalized following the attack on residential suburbs of Kyiv, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

The dead included a brother and sister, age 21 and 19, according to Zelenskyy.

At a Kyiv residential building that was almost entirely destroyed, emergency workers removed rubble with their hands, rescuing a trapped woman who emerged from the wreckage covered in white dust and moaning in pain.

An elderly woman sat against a brick wall, her face smeared with blood and her eyes fixed on the ground in shock as medics tended to her wounds.

Fires were reported in several residential buildings, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city military administration.

Oksana Bilozir, a student, suffered a head injury in the attack. With blood seeping from her bandaged head, she said that she heard a loud explosion after the air alarm blared and began to grab her things to flee to a shelter when another blast caused her home’s walls to crumble and the lights to go off.

“I honestly don’t even know how this will all end, it’s very scary,” said Bilozir, referring to the war. “I only believe that if we can stop them on the battlefield, then that’s it. No diplomacy works here.”

Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that he would fly back to Kyiv after meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The Ukrainian leader had hoped to recruit further South African support in efforts to end his country’s war with Russia, now in its fourth year.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the Kyiv attack was “yet another appalling violation of international humanitarian law.”

“Civilians must never be targets. This senseless use of force must stop,” it said in a statement.

Anastasiia Zhuravlova, 33, a mother of two, was sheltering in a basement after multiple blasts damaged her home. Her family was sleeping when the first explosion shattered their windows and sent kitchen appliances flying in the air. Shards of glass rained down on them as they rushed to take cover in the corridor.

“After that, we came to the shelter because it was scary and dangerous at home,” she said.

In Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district, the attack flattened a two-story residential building and heavily damaged nearby multistory buildings. Rescue work continued through the morning.

At a nearby school-turned-relief center, children helped parents cover blown-out windows with plastic while others queued for government compensation. Many stood in blood-stained clothes, still shaken.

Associated Press journalist Michelle Gumede in Pretoria, South Africa, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday lashed out at Ukraine’s president, saying Volodymyr Zelenskyy is prolonging the “killing field” after pushing back on ceding Crimea to Russia as part of a potential peace plan.

Zelenskyy on Tuesday ruled out ceding territory to Russia in any deal before talks set for Wednesday in London among U.S., European and Ukrainian officials. “There is nothing to talk about. It is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people,” Zelenskyy said.

During similar talks last week in Paris, U.S. officials presented a proposal that included allowing Russia to keep control of occupied Ukrainian territory as part of a deal, according to a European official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump called Zelenkyy’s pushback “very harmful” to talks.

“Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?” he wrote on social media.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 after sending troops to overrun it. Weeks later, Moscow-backed separatists launched an uprising in eastern Ukraine, battling Kyiv’s forces.

Trump also asserted they were close to a deal and that Ukraine’s leader can have peace or “he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country,” adding that Zelenskyy’s statement “will do nothing but prolong the ‘killing field,’ and nobody wants that!”

Wednesday’s meeting was pared back at the last minute, while Vice President JD Vance said negotiations are reaching a moment of truth.

“We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say ‘yes’ or for the United States to walk away from this process,” Vance told reporters during a visit to India.

He said it was “a very fair proposal” that would “freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today,” with both sides having to give up some territory they currently hold. He did not provide details.

Trump, who is set to travel to Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, told reporters later on Wednesday that he did not know if he would meet with Zelenskyy or other European leaders to discuss the war while in Italy. He also said that has found dealing with Zelenskyy harder than dealing with the Russians.

Trump who is set to travel to the Middle East next month said it was “possible” that he could meet with Putin while in Saudi Arabia, but that it is more likely he will meet with the Russian leader soon after that trip.

A senior European official familiar with the ongoing talks involving the American team said a proposal the United States calls “final” was initially presented last week in Paris, where it was described as “just ideas” — and that they could be changed.

When those “ideas” surfaced in media reports, Ukrainian officials were surprised to find that Washington portrayed them as final, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Ukraine is ready for any format of negotiations that might bring a ceasefire and open the door to full peace negotiations, as he mourned nine civilians killed when a Russian drone struck a bus earlier in the day.

“We insist on an immediate, complete and unconditional ceasefire,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media, in accordance with a proposal he said the U.S. tabled six weeks ago.

Ukraine and some Western European governments have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet on that proposal as his army tries to capture more Ukrainian land. Western analysts say Moscow is in no rush to conclude peace talks because it has battlefield momentum.

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the talks in London to find an end to the more than three-year war would involve only lower-ranking officials, after the U.S. State Department said Tuesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was unable to attend because of a scheduling issue.

Rubio’s abrupt cancellation raised doubts about the direction of negotiations. He had indicated that Wednesday’s meeting could be decisive in determining whether the Trump administration remains engaged.

Commenting on those attending the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “as far as we understand, they so far have failed to bring their positions closer on some issues.” He said the Kremlin was still in consultations with American officials but wouldn’t publicly discuss details.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Moscow again later this week, according to Russian officials.

Even achieving a limited, 30-day ceasefire has been beyond the reach of negotiators, as both sides continue to attack each other along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line and launch long-range strikes.

A Russian drone struck a bus carrying workers in Marganets, in eastern Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region on Wednesday morning, killing eight women and one man, regional head Serhii Lysak wrote on social media. More than 40 people were injured, he said.

Lysak published photos of a bus with windows blown out and shards of glass mixed with blood spattered on its floor.

Trump has pushed for an end to the war and said last week that negotiations were “coming to a head.” That comment came after Rubio suggested the U.S. might soon back away from negotiations if they don’t progress.

Those still attending Wednesday’s meeting include retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

Andrii Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said on social media that a delegation including him, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov had arrived in London for the talks despite the alterations.

“The path to peace is not easy, but Ukraine has been and remains committed to peaceful efforts,” Yermak said. Officials would “discuss ways to achieve a full and unconditional ceasefire as the first step toward a comprehensive settlement and the achievement of a just and lasting peace.”

Several hours later, Yermak said that he, Sybiha and Umerov met with national security and foreign policy advisors from the countries “participating in the coalition of the willing” and “emphasized our commitment” to the U.S. president’s peace efforts.

He asserted on social media that “Russia continues to reject an unconditional ceasefire, dragging out the process and trying to manipulate negotiations.”

Trump said repeatedly during his election campaign last year that he would be able to end the war “in 24 hours” upon taking office. But he has expressed frustration with Zelenskyy and Putin. Russia has effectively rejected a U.S. proposal for an immediate and full 30-day halt in the fighting by imposing far-reaching conditions.

Some European allies are wary of the American proposal for Ukraine to exchange land for peace. But an official said there’s also acknowledgment by some allies that Russia is firmly entrenched wholly or partially in five regions of Ukraine: Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

If the goal is to obtain a ceasefire immediately, “it should be based on the line of contact as it is,” said the senior French official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with French presidential policy.

Novikov reported from Kyiv and Madhani from Washington. Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Sunday of creating a false appearance of honoring an Easter ceasefire, saying Moscow continued to launch attacks after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a unilateral temporary truce.

“As of Easter morning, we can say that the Russian army is trying to create a general impression of a ceasefire, but in some places, it does not abandon individual attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

Despite Putin’s declaration of an Easter ceasefire, Zelenskyy said Sunday morning that Ukrainian forces had recorded 59 instances of Russian shelling and five assaults by units along the front line, as well as dozens of drone strikes.

In later updates, Zelenskyy said that despite Ukraine declaring a symmetrical approach to Russian actions, “the trend of increasing the use of heavy weaponry by Russian forces continues.” He said, however, that it was “a good thing, at least, that there were no air raid sirens.”

He noted that some Ukrainian troops were killed in a Russian “ambush” on Sunday in the Donetsk region, and said the Russian soldiers responsible would be “eliminated.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry accused Ukrainian forces of overnight attacks in the Donetsk region despite the ceasefire. It said Ukraine had sent 48 drones into Russian territory. According to the ministry, there were “dead and wounded among the civilian population,” without giving details. It claimed Russian troops had strictly observed the truce.

Russia-installed officials in the partially occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson also said Ukrainian forces had launched attacks.

Zelenskyy said that Russia must fully adhere to the ceasefire conditions and reiterated Ukraine’s offer to extend the truce for 30 days when it ends midnight Sunday. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow had not responded to Kyiv’s proposal.

“In practice, either Putin does not have full control over his army, or the situation proves that in Russia, they have no intention of making a genuine move toward ending the war, and are only interested in favorable PR coverage,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Just hours after announcing the ceasefire, Putin attended an Easter service late Saturday at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour led by Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a vocal supporter of Putin and the war in Ukraine.

Putin offered no details on how the ceasefire would be monitored or whether it would cover airstrikes or ongoing ground battles that rage around the clock.

His announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that 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 three-year war.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine ___

Morton reported from London.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Vice President JD Vance of “somehow justifying” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine as he urged President Donald Trump to visit his country before engaging in any further talks about ending the conflict.

In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” broadcast Sunday, Zelenskyy said Russian narratives about the war appear to have taken hold in Washington as he singled out Vance’s approach during his historical Oval Office clash with Trump.

“First and foremost, we did not launch an attack [to start the war],” Zelenskyy said, according to a translation by CBS, appearing to refer to Trump’s false claims that Ukraine was responsible for the war breaking out.

“It seems to me that the vice president is somehow justifying Putin’s actions. I tried to explain, ‘You can’t look for something in the middle. There is an aggressor and there is a victim. The Russians are the aggressor, and we are the victim,’” he added.

In response, Vance’s press secretary Taylor Van Kirk said Zelenskyy’s comments “are counterproductive to the goal of achieving peace for his country.”

“Instead of mischaracterizing Vice President Vance’s rhetoric, President Zelenskyy should be focused on bringing this conflict to a peaceful conclusion,” the statement adds.

During the infamous White House meeting, Zelenskyy urged Vance to visit his country to survey the damage inflicted by Russia across Ukraine.

“I’ve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President,” Vance shot back at the time.

Zelenskyy, the Trump administration’s criticism of him, including the president calling him a “dictator,” reflects “the enormous influence of Russia’s information policy on America, on U.S. politics, and U.S. politicians,” according to the translation provided by CBS. Elections have been suspended in Ukraine due to the war.

The wartime leader has extended an invitation to Trump to visit Ukraine before engaging in further negotiations to broker peace between the two countries.

“Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,” he told CBS’ Scott Pelley. “Come, look, and then let’s — let’s move with a plan how to finish the war.”

Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin on Friday in Russia as Trump called on Moscow to “get moving.”

“Too many people [are] DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Witkoff’s meeting with Putin lasted for over four hours, according to the Kremlin.

Zelenskyy, who conceded he hates Putin, told Pelley the Russian president can’t be trusted, as he laid out what was at stake in this critical juncture in the war.

“Putin’s ultimate goal is to revive the Russian Empire and reclaim territories currently under NATO protection,” Zelenskyy said, according to CBS’ translation. “And the United States being part of NATO means it will be involved in any potential conflict. Considering all of this, I believe it could escalate into a world war.”

Trump lashed out at CBS on Sunday evening following the broadcast of the “60 Minutes” episode. He, once again, said the Ukraine war would have never started if he were in charge, before calling for the network to lose its license.

“They are not a ‘News Show,’” the president wrote, “but a dishonest Political Operative simply disguised as ‘News,’ and must be responsible for what they have done, and are doing.”

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that they had a constructive call about moving toward a ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, with the White House suggesting the U.S. could take control of Ukrainian power plants to ensure their security.

Trump told Zelenskyy that the U.S could be “very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise,” according to a White House statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz that described the call as “fantastic.”

Trump added that “American ownership of those plants could be the best protection for that infrastructure.”

Weeks after a disastrous Oval Office meeting between the two leaders that led to Trump temporarily pausing intelligence sharing and military aid to Ukraine, Trump and Zelenskyy had “a very good conversation” in which they joked around, according to a senior Ukrainian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to comment publicly. There was an emphasis during the call on how any ceasefire process would need to be monitored and how the negotiating teams would still need to resolve technical issues, said the official.

During the call, Zelenskyy requested additional Patriot defense missile systems. Rubio and Waltz said Trump “agreed to work with him to find what was available, particularly in Europe.”

Trump has made clear that quickly ending the war is a top priority for his new administration. He has repeatedly complained about the cost — the U.S. has sent Ukraine more than $180 billion in military and economic aid since the start of the war.

The call came a day after Trump held similar talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who agreed not to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure but refused to back a full 30-day ceasefire.

According to the Kremlin, Putin made clear to Trump that there must be a halt to foreign military aide and intelligence sharing as part of any deal. But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday underscored that U.S. “intelligence sharing in terms of defense for Ukraine” would continue.

Prior to his call with Trump, Zelenskyy said Putin’s limited ceasefire pledge was “very much at odds with reality” following an overnight barrage of drone strikes across the country.

“Even last night, after Putin’s conversation with … Trump, when Putin said that he was allegedly giving orders to stop strikes on Ukrainian energy, there were 150 drones launched overnight, including on energy facilities,” Zelenskyy said at a news conference in Helsinki with Finnish President Alexander Stubb.

Russia responded by saying it had halted its targeting of Ukraine’s energy facilities and accused Kyiv of attacking equipment near one of its pipelines.

“Unfortunately, we see that for now there is no reciprocity on the part of the Kyiv regime,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The White House described the call between Trump and Putin as the first step in a “movement to peace” that Washington hopes will include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and eventually a full and lasting end to the fighting.

But there was no indication that Putin backed away from his conditions for a prospective peace deal, which are fiercely opposed by Kyiv.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said that Putin’s demands during the call with Trump would amount to “Ukrainian capitulation.”

“Putin is attempting to hold the temporary ceasefire proposal hostage in order to extract preemptive concessions ahead of formal negotiations to end the war,” the ISW said in an analysis of readouts from the calls.

Stubb called the discussions between Putin and Trump a step in the right direction, but Finland’s president said that Russia needs to end its aggression.

“There are only two ways to respond to the proposal of the president of the United States: it’s a yes or a no — no buts, no conditions,” Stubb said. “Ukraine accepted a ceasefire without any forms of conditions. If Russia refuses to agree, we need to increase our efforts to strengthen Ukraine and ratchet up pressure on Russia to convince them to come to the negotiating table.”

Waltz said on social media that he and his Russian counterpart, Yuri Ushakov, agreed Wednesday that their teams would meet soon in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, “to focus on implementing and expanding the partial ceasefire President Trump secured from Russia.”

It was not immediately clear who would be part of the delegations or if Ukrainian officials were also invited to take part in the Saudi Arabia talks.

Shortly after the call between Trump and Putin on Tuesday, air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv, followed by explosions as residents took shelter.

Despite efforts to repel the attack, several strikes hit civilian infrastructure, including two hospitals, a railway and more than 20 houses, Zelenskyy said. Russian drones were reported over Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Chernihiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, and Cherkasy regions.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its military had launched seven drones at power facilities related to the military-industrial complex in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region, but that it shot them down after receiving Putin’s order to not hit energy infrastructure.

Moscow accused Ukraine of targeting its energy facility in the Krasnodar region bordering the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, several hours after the Putin and Trump talks. The ministry said that three drones targeted oil transfer equipment that feeds the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, causing a fire and leading one oil tank to lose pressure.

“It is absolutely clear that we are talking about yet another provocation deliberately concocted by the Kyiv regime, aimed at derailing the peace initiatives of the U.S. president,” the ministry said.

Russia said that its air defenses intercepted 57 Ukrainian drones over the Azov Sea and several Russian regions — the border provinces of Kursk and Bryansk and the nearby regions of Oryol and Tula.

Zelenskyy said that “words of a ceasefire” weren’t enough.

“If the Russians don’t hit our facilities, we definitely won’t hit theirs,” Zelenskyy said.

Meanwhile, the two combatants said Wednesday that they had each swapped 175 prisoners in one of the largest exchanges of the war.

Zelenskyy rejected Putin’s key condition that Western allies stop providing military aid and intelligence to Ukraine. He said that doing so would endanger lives if citizens were blind to incoming air raids, and lead to the continuation of the war.

“I don’t think anybody should make any concessions in terms of helping Ukraine, but rather, assistance to Ukraine should be increased,” Zelenskyy said. “This will be a signal that Ukraine is ready for any surprises from the Russians.”

Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that it was “completely unsurprising” that Putin rejected the ceasefire, adding that it’s “imprudent for him to tell President Trump that directly, since Trump has made ending the war a very, very high priority.”

“What we have now, in effect, is a competition or rivalry between Kyiv and Moscow to persuade Trump that it’s the other side that is responsible for preventing Trump from achieving his goal of ending the war,” Gould-Davies said.

Zelenskyy said that one of the most difficult issues in future negotiations would be the issue of territorial concessions.

“For us, the red line is the recognition of the Ukrainian temporarily occupied territories as Russian,” he said. “We will not go for it.”

Yehor Konovalov in Kyiv, Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Aamer Madhani and Zeke Miller in Washington, and Brian Melley in London contributed to this report.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in a large-scale missile and drone bombardment during the night, officials said Friday, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said talks with the U.S. on ending the 3-year war will take place next week.

Ukraine came under a “massive missile and drone” attack, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko wrote on Facebook. At least 10 people, including a child, were injured, authorities said.

“Russia is trying to hurt ordinary Ukrainians by striking energy and gas production facilities, without abandoning its goal of leaving us without light and heat, and causing the greatest harm to ordinary citizens,” Halushchenko wrote.

Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power grid during the war. The attacks have depleted electricity generation capacity and disrupted critical heating and water supplies. Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of “weaponizing winter” in an effort to erode civilian morale.

Russia fired 67 missiles from air, land and sea and launched 194 strike and decoy drones, Ukraine’s air force said. Their primary target was Ukraine’s natural gas extraction facilities, it said.

For the first time, Ukraine deployed French Mirage-2000 warplanes delivered a month ago to help repel the attack, according to the air force. Ukraine also has Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets to shoot down Russian missiles.

Ukrainian defenses downed 34 missiles and 100 drones, the air force said, while up to 10 missiles didn’t reach their targets and 86 drones were lost from radars, presumably jammed by electronic warfare.

Western-supplied air defense systems are crucial for Ukraine’s fight but further U.S. help is uncertain under U.S. President Donald Trump, who says he is determined to end the war and has paused American military aid for Kyiv as a way of pressuring Zelenskyy to negotiate.

In his nightly address, Zelenskyy said Thursday he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet the country’s crown prince, and his team would stay on to hold talks with U.S. officials.

Zelenskyy welcomed a European Union plan to bolster the continent’s defenses. He expressed hope that some of the new spending could be used to strengthen Ukraine’s own defense industry.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the American people and leadership and voiced hope for “strong relations,” a day after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with U.S. President Donald Trump that left many uncertain where the once staunch allies stood.

Zelenskyy on Saturday arrived in London ahead of a summit on Sunday organized by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer with other European leaders.

The summit will also include leaders from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Czechia and Romania, as well as the NATO secretary-general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council.

The shouting match that unfolded Friday in the final minutes of the highly anticipated meeting at the White House between Trump and Zelenskyy seemed to dash, at least for now, Ukrainian hopes that the United States could be locked in as a reliable partner in helping fend off, and conclude, Russia’s three-year onslaught.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said “a new era of nefariousness” had begun in the wake of Trump’s treatment of Zelenskyy at the White House, but vowed that it would only increase her country’s commitment to Ukraine.

“Many of you will have slept fitfully tonight in the face of the unspeakable videos from the White House. Frankly, so did I. Unfortunately, this was not a bad dream, but a violent reality,” she told reporters on Saturday. “Our horror is greater today than before, but so is our commitment to the people of Ukraine, to our own security and to peace in Europe.”

She described Ukraine as “part of free and democratic Europe” and said there is no question as to who is the aggressor and who is “the brave defender” in the war.

A nighttime Russian drone strike on Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv wounded 12 civilians, including three children, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine reported on Saturday.

According to Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, some of the drones hit a medical facility where inpatients were staying overnight, while others damaged residential buildings.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia overnight launched a total of 154 attack drones at Ukrainian territory, 103 of which were shot down.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson described Friday’s Oval Office blowout between Trump and Zelenskyy as a “complete political and diplomatic failure” for Kyiv.

In a statement Saturday, Maria Zakharova also slammed the “political weakness and extreme moral degradation” of European leaders who continue to support Ukraine and its president.

Zakharova said Russia’s war aims remain unchanged, implying Moscow will insist on a demilitarized Ukraine barred from NATO, and on annexing Ukrainian territories it controls.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier criticized Trump in unusually sharp terms for his behavior during the meeting with Zelenskyy at the Oval Office.

“Diplomacy fails when negotiating partners are humiliated in front of the whole world,” Steinmeier told dpa, the German news agency, during a flight to Uruguay. “The scene in the White House yesterday took my breath away. I would never have believed that we would one day have to protect Ukraine from the USA.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said if someone is gambling with World War III, it is not Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but more likely his Russian counterpart.

Macron reacted to Friday’s heated exchange between U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, during which Trump accused Zelenskyy of “gambling with World War III.”

“If anyone is gambling with World War III, his name is Vladimir Putin,” Macron told Portugal’s RTP news channel during a visit to Lisbon ahead of Sunday’s Ukraine summit of European leaders in London.

Macron said he still hopes that the United States will remain committed to the defense of democracy.

“My hope is that the United States of America will continue to stand by its history and its principles,” he said. “Whenever we have had major conflicts, the United States of America has been on the right side of history and freedom.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov about the war in Ukraine, officials said.

The phone call came a day before Fidan is due to attend a London summit of European leaders to discuss bringing the three-year conflict to an end.

Turkey, which has close ties to both Ukraine and Russia, has previously offered to mediate talks. It hosted unsuccessful peace talks in 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced thanks to the “American people” and leadership, and hope for “strong relations,” less than a day after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with Trump that left many uncertain where the once staunch allies stood.

Ukraine had walked into the meeting prepared to sign a mineral deal with the U.S., hoping it would be a step toward a just ceasefire, but left empty handed.

In a series of posts on X on Saturday, Zelenskyy said Ukrainians are “very grateful to the United States for all the support,” and specifically thanked Trump and Congress alongside the “American people.”

“Our relationship with the American President is more than just two leaders: It’s a historic and solid bond between our peoples. … American people helped save our people,” he said. “We want only strong relations with America and I really hope we will have them,” he added.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer plans to meet Saturday afternoon with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following the dramatic blowout with President Donald Trump at the White House.

Zelenskyy’s plane with the Ukrainian flag on its tail landed at London Stansted Airport the morning after the diplomatic spat on live TV.

Zelenskyy had been due to meet with Starmer on Sunday, hours before taking part in a London summit of European leaders to discuss how to ensure a peaceful end to the war and provide security across the continent.

But the timetable for their bilateral meeting was apparently sped up in the aftermath of the Washington visit.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Soon after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left the White House on Friday after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with President Donald Trump, Ukrainians rallied around Zelenskyy as a defender of his country’s interests.

The shouting match that unfolded in the final minutes of the highly anticipated meeting between the two leaders seemed to dash, at least for now, Ukrainian hopes that the United States could be locked in as a reliable partner in helping fend off, and conclude, Russia’s three-year onslaught.

The exchange, which saw a frustrated Zelenskyy lectured by Trump and Vice President JD Vance over what they saw as his lack of gratitude for previous U.S. support, delighted officials in Moscow, who saw it as a final breakdown in relations between Washington and the Ukrainian leader.

But many Ukrainians on Friday seemed unfazed by the blowout between Zelenskyy and Trump, expressing a sense that the Ukrainian leader had stood up for their country’s dignity and interests by firmly maintaining his stance in the face of chiding from some of the world’s most powerful men.

Nataliia Serhiienko, 67, a retiree in Kyiv, said she thinks Ukrainians approve of their president’s performance in Washington, “because Zelenskyy fought like a lion.”

“They had a heated meeting, a very heated conversation,” she said. But Zelenskyy “was defending Ukraine’s interests.”

The meeting at the White House was meant to produce a bilateral agreement that would establish a joint investment fund for reconstructing Ukraine, a deal that was seen as a potential step toward bringing an end to the war and tying the two countries’ economies together for years to come.

But as Zelenskyy and his team departed the White House at Trump’s request, the deal went unsigned, and Ukraine’s hopes for securing U.S. security backing seemed farther away than ever.

Yet as the Ukrainian leader was set to return to Kyiv empty handed, his support at home seemed undiminished.

As two drones struck Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv on Friday night, the head of the region which sits on the border with Russia, Oleh Syniehubov, praised Zelenskyy. He said the president held strong to his insistence that no peace deal could be made without assurances for Ukraine’s security against future Russian aggression.

“Our leader, despite the pressure, stands firm in defending the interests of Ukraine and Ukrainians. … We need only a just peace with security guarantees,” Syniehubov said.

Kyiv resident Artem Vasyliev, 37, said he had seen “complete disrespect” from the United States in the Oval Office exchange, despite the fact that Ukraine “was the first country that stood up to Russia.”

“We are striving for democracy, and we are met with total disrespect, toward our warriors, our soldiers, and the people of our country,” said Vasyliev, a native of Russian-occupied Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

Vasyliev criticized the U.S. president for what he said was a failure to recognize the human cost of Russia’s invasion, saying Trump “doesn’t understand that people are dying, that cities are being destroyed, people are suffering, mothers, children, soldiers.”

“He cannot understand this, he is just a businessman. For him, money is sacred,” he said.

Ukrainian social media was awash in praise for Zelenskyy late Friday, with officials on the national, regional and local level chiming in to voice their support for their leader.

The outpouring resembled a recent surge in Ukrainian unity after Trump denigrated Zelenskyy by making false claims that Ukraine was led by a “dictator” who started the war with Russia — comments that led some of the Ukrainian president’s harshest critics to rally around him.

Oleksandr Prokudin, head of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, which was mostly occupied by Russia early in the war but later partially retaken by Ukrainian forces, said three years of war had hardened his countrymen to the ups and downs of the fight to survive.

“We know what pressure is, on the front lines, in politics, in daily struggle,” Prokudin said. “It has made us stronger. It has made the president stronger. Determination is the force that drives us forward. And I am confident that we will endure this time as well.”

Trump’s administration cast the heated exchange with Zelenskyy as part of its “America First” policy and slammed the Ukrainian leader for a perceived lack of gratitude for U.S. assistance.

But Zelenskyy’s backers in Ukraine praised his commitment to acting in Ukraine’s national interest — even if it meant coming into conflict with the president of the United States.

“Unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s interests and devotion to his country. This is what we saw today in the United States. Support for the President of Ukraine,” Vice Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba wrote on Telegram Friday.

Not all of Ukraine’s political figures, however, were as full-throated in their praise for how the Oval Office meeting concluded. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that he hoped “that Ukraine does not lose the support of the United States, which is extremely important to us.”

“Today is not the time for emotions, from either side. We need to find common ground,” Klitschko wrote in a post on Telegram.

Associated Press writers Hanna Arhirova and Illia Novikov contributed to this report.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine and the U.S. have reached an agreement on a framework for a broad economic deal that would include access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, three senior Ukrainian officials said Tuesday.

The officials, who were familiar with the matter, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. One of them said that Kyiv hopes that signing the agreement will ensure the continued flow of U.S. military support that Ukraine urgently needs.

The agreement could be signed as early as Friday and plans are being drawn up for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to travel to Washington to meet President Donald Trump, according to one of the Ukrainian officials.

Another official said the agreement would provide an opportunity for Zelenskyy and Trump to discuss continued military aid to Ukraine, which is why Kyiv is eager to finalize the deal.

Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, said he’d heard that Zelenskyy was coming and added that “it’s okay with me, if he’d like to, and he would like to sign it together with me.”

Trump called it a big deal that could be worth a trillion dollars. “It could be whatever, but it’s rare earths and other things.”

According to one Ukrainian official, some technical details are still to be determined. However, the draft does not include a contentious Trump administration proposal to give the U.S. $500 billion worth of profits from Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as compensation for its wartime assistance to Kyiv.

Instead, the U.S. and Ukraine would have joint ownership of a fund, and Ukraine would in the future contribute 50% of future proceeds from state-owned resources, including minerals, oil, and gas. One official said the deal had better terms of investments and another one said that Kyiv secured favorable amendments and viewed the outcome as “positive.”

The deal does not, however, include security guarantees. One official said that this would be something the two presidents would discuss when they meet.

The progress in negotiating the deal comes after Trump and Zelenskyy traded sharp rhetoric last week about their differences over the matter.

Zelenskyy said he balked at signing off on a deal that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed during a visit to Kyiv earlier this month, and the Ukrainian leader objected again days later during a meeting in Munich with Vice President JD Vance because the American proposal did not include security guarantees.

Trump then called Volodymyr Zelenskyy “a dictator without elections” and claimed his support among voters was near rock-bottom.

But the two sides made significant progress during a three-day visit to Ukraine last week by retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia.

The idea was initially proposed last fall by Zelenskyy as part of his plan to strengthen Kyiv’s hand in future negotiations with Moscow.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A contentious U.S. proposal that would have seen $500 billion worth of profits from Ukrainian rare minerals given to the United States as compensation for its wartime assistance to Kyiv has been taken off the table, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday, a sign the two sides may be drawing closer to an agreement.

“As of today, as of this evening, the question of $500 billion is no longer there,” Zelenskyy said during a news conference at a forum of government officials in Kyiv marking the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. officials under President Donald Trump have pressured Zelenskyy to sign a deal allowing the U.S. access to Ukrainian rare earth minerals as a form of compensation for the assistance the U.S has provided Ukraine to defend itself against Russia’s invasion.

Zelenskyy had earlier declined a draft agreement with the U.S. on mineral exploitation because it did not contain security guarantees and came with a $500 billion price tag.

On Sunday, he said that considering aid to Ukraine as a debt to be repaid would be a “Pandora’s box” that would set a precedent requiring Kyiv to reimburse all its backers.

“We do not recognize the debt,” Zelenskyy said. “It will not be in the final format of the agreement.”

Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday that he expects a deal this week on allowing the U.S. to play a greater role in exploiting valuable Ukrainian minerals such as lithium and other substances used in the aerospace, defense and nuclear industries.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the Fox News Channel on Sunday that the administration’s minerals plan was to create a U.S.-Ukraine partnership, calling it a “win-win.”

“We make money if the Ukrainian people make money,” Bessent said.

Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, left the Kyiv forum early along with Economic Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko for what Yermak said were talks with U.S. officials on a potential deal.

Later in the day, Yermak posted on social media that he’d spoken with U.S. officials including Bessent and Trump’s national security adviser Mike Walz, saying it had been a “constructive conversation.”

“We are making progress in our work,” Yermak wrote. “The USA is our partner and we are grateful to the American people.”

In response to a pointed question from a reporter on whether he would give up his presidency for peace in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said he would do so if it achieved a durable end to the fighting under the security umbrella of the NATO military alliance.

“If to achieve peace, you really need me to give up my post, I’m ready,” he said. “I can trade it for NATO.”

His comment appeared to be aimed at recent suggestions by Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that elections should be held despite Ukrainian legislation prohibiting them during martial law.

Trump’s engagement with Russian officials and his recent agreement to reopen diplomatic ties and economic cooperation with Moscow has marked a dramatic about-face in U.S. policy that has rattled leaders in Ukraine and across Europe.

Zelenskyy has expressed fear that Trump pushing a quick resolution would result in Ukraine losing territory and being left vulnerable to future Russian aggression. U.S. officials have asserted that the Ukrainian leader would be involved if and when peace talks actually start.

Trump, however, prompted alarm and anger in Ukraine this week when he suggested that Kyiv had started the war, and that Zelenskyy was acting as a “dictator” by not holding elections.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister on Saturday said preparations were underway for a meeting between Trump and Putin, a further sign that the Russian leader’s isolation from the U.S. was beginning to thaw under Trump.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and other top European Union officials are set to arrive in Kyiv Monday for talks with Ukraine’s government. European leaders have scrambled in recent days to devise a response to the Trump administration’s U.S. policy changes, and to come up with a way to maintain support for Kyiv if aid from Washington comes to an end.

Zelenskyy on Sunday said he would propose a trip to a European capital in the next week or two to speak with EU leaders on security guarantees for his country.

The U.K. on Sunday said it would announce new sanctions against Russia on Monday, describing them as the biggest package since the early days of the war. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the measures would be aimed at “eroding (Russia’s) military machine and reducing revenues fueling the fires of destruction in Ukraine.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron will make tag-team visits to Washington this week as Europe attempts to persuade Trump not to abandon Ukraine in pursuit of a peace deal.

Earlier on Sunday, Zelenskyy said Russia had launched 267 strike drones into Ukraine overnight, more than in any other single attack of the war.

Ukraine’s air force said 138 drones were shot down over 13 Ukrainian regions, with 119 more lost en route to their targets.

Three ballistic missiles also were fired, the air force said. One person was killed in the city of Kryvyi Rih, according to the city military administration.

Reacting to the latest Russian attacks, Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said they demonstrated that “avoiding calling Russia an aggressor does not change the fact that it is one.”

“No one should trust Putin’s words. Look at his actions instead,” Sybiha said in a statement on social media.

Associated Press writers Thomas Strong and Will Weissert in Washington contributed.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine