Russia and Ukraine trade overnight attacks, seven killed as peace talks continue

Russia and Ukraine traded attacks overnight with seven killed on the Ukrainian side authorities said on Thursday shortly after US President Donald Trumps envoy held talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Saint PetersburgTrump sought to strike an optimistic tone after US envoy Steve Witkoffs meeting with Putin on Wednesday saying negotiators were maybe now the closest weve been to ending the warThe Kremlin indicated it was in principle open to the resumption of trilateral talks involving the two sides and the United StatesBut attacks did not let up in the wake of the visitMoscows mayor Sergei Sobyanin said two people had been wounded in huge barrages of 630 drones fired towards the region 163 of which were approaching the Russian capitalThe governor of nearby Tula region said Russian air defences had destroyed 70 drones Another man was wounded in the Lipetsk region its governor saidIn Ukraine the attacks killed one man in Sumy and a woman in Kharkiv both in the northeast as well as three people in southeastern Zaporizhzhia and two in the eastern region of Donetsk authorities saidKyivs mayor Vitali Klitschko said on social media strikes had wounded 15 people in the Ukrainian capitalHe said the strikes had damaged metro infrastructure at the Pivdenny Bridge which officials said had restricted traffic between parts of the cityUkraines air force posted a warning in the early hours of more ballistic missiles towards Kyiv and instructed residents to stay in sheltersWitkoff had flown to Russia from a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo on Tuesday which was aimed at smoothing over a bitter rift between Trump and the Ukrainian leaderTrumps soninlaw Jared Kushner also took part in the talks with Putin remotelyKremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Russia was in principle ready to resume trilateral talks in midNovember after the US midterm elections and that the Kremlin wanted them to focus on postwar securityZelensky said Ukraine also backed resuming trilateral talksWork left to doUshakov said Witkoff briefed Putin on some new aspects in the approaches of the Europeans and Kyiv from the Oslo meeting but that there wasnt really much substance in themA summit between Putin Trump and Chinas Xi Jinping was also being prepared in Chinas Shenzhen for next month Ushakov said calling it the first such meeting in historyDuring their threehour meeting Witkoff praised Putin for granting Trumps request to free US citizen Stephen Hubbard a retired English teacher in his 70s who had been detained for fighting for Ukraine charges he deniedYou talk so much about my president President Trump being a humanitarian you are a humanitarian also sir and I salute that Witkoff saidWitkoff said on social media the talks with Putin were constructive but that there is still important work left to do Discussions would continue between the United States Ukraine and Russia at the technical level he addedTrump returned to power in January 2025 promising to end the war in 24 hours but more than a year of USled talks have failed to produce a breakthroughIn recent days a frustrated Trump has once again pivoted away from Ukraine and back to Putin trumpeting what he said was a deal for Russia to sell diesel and reduce prices sent soaring by his Iran warTrump also delayed the imposition of sanctions on Russias war machine a decision he defended on Wednesday as necessary to secure Hubbards releaseIf you wouldve put those sanctions on you could forget about him Youd never see him again Trump told reporters at the White HouseWitkoff told Putin Washington was grateful for the diesel deal which sparked outrage in Kyiv and across EuropeThe war Europes worst since World War II has killed tens of thousands of people since Russias February 2022 invasionPutin has consistently rejected facetoface talks with Zelensky and insisted Moscow intends to seize the rest of east UkraineThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever