Envoy meets Zelenskiy as US pledges missiles to Ukraine
Zelenskiy said he and retired general Keith Kellogg had "a productive conversation" about strengthening Ukrainian air defences, joint arms production and purchasing US weapons in conjunction with European countries, as well as the possibility of tighter international sanctions on the Kremlin.
"We hope for the leadership of the United States, because it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its ... ambitions are stopped by force," Zelenskiy said on Telegram.
Trump last week said he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday.
Trump made quickly stopping the war one of his diplomatic priorities, and he has increasingly expressed frustration about Russian President Vladimir Putin's unbudging stance on US-led peace efforts.
Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin, and after taking office in January repeatedly said that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal.
At the same time, Trump accused Zelenskiy of prolonging the war and called him a "dictator without elections".
But Russia's relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Trump's patience.
"I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said," Trump said late on Sunday.
"He'll talk so beautifully and then he'll bomb people at night. We don't like that."
Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine's air defences are struggling to counter.
June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said.
Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month in 2024, it said.
At the same time, Russia's bigger army is making a new effort to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1000km front line.
Trump confirmed the US was sending Ukraine more badly needed Patriot air defence missiles and the European Union would pay the US for the "various pieces of very sophisticated" weaponry.
While the EU is not allowed under its treaties to buy weapons, EU member countries can and are, just as NATO member countries are buying and sending weapons.
A top ally of Trump, Republican senator Lindsey Graham, said Sunday that the conflict was nearing an inflection point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia's full-scale invasion.
It's a cause that Trump had previously dismissed as being a waste of US taxpayer money.
"In the coming days, you'll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves," Graham said on CBS's Face the Nation.
He added: "And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there's going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table."
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy for international investment, dismissed what he said were efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Washington, adding attempts at pressure were "doomed to fail".
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was due in Washington on Monday and Tuesday for talks with Trump, Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The visits came as Russian troops conducted a combined aerial strike at Shostka, in the northern Sumy region of Ukraine, using glide bombs and drones early Monday morning, killing two people, the regional prosecutor's office said.
The Russian defence ministry, meanwhile, said its air defences downed 11 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions on the border with Ukraine, as well as over the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.
US President Donald Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia has met Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv as anticipation grows over a possible shift in the Trump administration's policy on the three-year war.
Zelenskiy said he and retired general Keith Kellogg had "a productive conversation" about strengthening Ukrainian air defences, joint arms production and purchasing US weapons in conjunction with European countries, as well as the possibility of tighter international sanctions on the Kremlin.
"We hope for the leadership of the United States, because it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its ... ambitions are stopped by force," Zelenskiy said on Telegram.
Trump last week said he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday.
Trump made quickly stopping the war one of his diplomatic priorities, and he has increasingly expressed frustration about Russian President Vladimir Putin's unbudging stance on US-led peace efforts.
Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin, and after taking office in January repeatedly said that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal.
At the same time, Trump accused Zelenskiy of prolonging the war and called him a "dictator without elections".
But Russia's relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Trump's patience.
"I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said," Trump said late on Sunday.
"He'll talk so beautifully and then he'll bomb people at night. We don't like that."
Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine's air defences are struggling to counter.
June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said.
Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month in 2024, it said.
At the same time, Russia's bigger army is making a new effort to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1000km front line.
Trump confirmed the US was sending Ukraine more badly needed Patriot air defence missiles and the European Union would pay the US for the "various pieces of very sophisticated" weaponry.
While the EU is not allowed under its treaties to buy weapons, EU member countries can and are, just as NATO member countries are buying and sending weapons.
A top ally of Trump, Republican senator Lindsey Graham, said Sunday that the conflict was nearing an inflection point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia's full-scale invasion.
It's a cause that Trump had previously dismissed as being a waste of US taxpayer money.
"In the coming days, you'll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves," Graham said on CBS's Face the Nation.
He added: "And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there's going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table."
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy for international investment, dismissed what he said were efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Washington, adding attempts at pressure were "doomed to fail".
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was due in Washington on Monday and Tuesday for talks with Trump, Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The visits came as Russian troops conducted a combined aerial strike at Shostka, in the northern Sumy region of Ukraine, using glide bombs and drones early Monday morning, killing two people, the regional prosecutor's office said.
The Russian defence ministry, meanwhile, said its air defences downed 11 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions on the border with Ukraine, as well as over the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.
US President Donald Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia has met Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv as anticipation grows over a possible shift in the Trump administration's policy on the three-year war.
Zelenskiy said he and retired general Keith Kellogg had "a productive conversation" about strengthening Ukrainian air defences, joint arms production and purchasing US weapons in conjunction with European countries, as well as the possibility of tighter international sanctions on the Kremlin.
"We hope for the leadership of the United States, because it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its ... ambitions are stopped by force," Zelenskiy said on Telegram.
Trump last week said he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday.
Trump made quickly stopping the war one of his diplomatic priorities, and he has increasingly expressed frustration about Russian President Vladimir Putin's unbudging stance on US-led peace efforts.
Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin, and after taking office in January repeatedly said that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal.
At the same time, Trump accused Zelenskiy of prolonging the war and called him a "dictator without elections".
But Russia's relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Trump's patience.
"I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said," Trump said late on Sunday.
"He'll talk so beautifully and then he'll bomb people at night. We don't like that."
Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine's air defences are struggling to counter.
June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said.
Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month in 2024, it said.
At the same time, Russia's bigger army is making a new effort to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1000km front line.
Trump confirmed the US was sending Ukraine more badly needed Patriot air defence missiles and the European Union would pay the US for the "various pieces of very sophisticated" weaponry.
While the EU is not allowed under its treaties to buy weapons, EU member countries can and are, just as NATO member countries are buying and sending weapons.
A top ally of Trump, Republican senator Lindsey Graham, said Sunday that the conflict was nearing an inflection point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia's full-scale invasion.
It's a cause that Trump had previously dismissed as being a waste of US taxpayer money.
"In the coming days, you'll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves," Graham said on CBS's Face the Nation.
He added: "And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there's going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table."
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy for international investment, dismissed what he said were efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Washington, adding attempts at pressure were "doomed to fail".
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was due in Washington on Monday and Tuesday for talks with Trump, Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The visits came as Russian troops conducted a combined aerial strike at Shostka, in the northern Sumy region of Ukraine, using glide bombs and drones early Monday morning, killing two people, the regional prosecutor's office said.
The Russian defence ministry, meanwhile, said its air defences downed 11 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions on the border with Ukraine, as well as over the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.
US President Donald Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia has met Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv as anticipation grows over a possible shift in the Trump administration's policy on the three-year war.
Zelenskiy said he and retired general Keith Kellogg had "a productive conversation" about strengthening Ukrainian air defences, joint arms production and purchasing US weapons in conjunction with European countries, as well as the possibility of tighter international sanctions on the Kremlin.
"We hope for the leadership of the United States, because it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its ... ambitions are stopped by force," Zelenskiy said on Telegram.
Trump last week said he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday.
Trump made quickly stopping the war one of his diplomatic priorities, and he has increasingly expressed frustration about Russian President Vladimir Putin's unbudging stance on US-led peace efforts.
Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin, and after taking office in January repeatedly said that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal.
At the same time, Trump accused Zelenskiy of prolonging the war and called him a "dictator without elections".
But Russia's relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Trump's patience.
"I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said," Trump said late on Sunday.
"He'll talk so beautifully and then he'll bomb people at night. We don't like that."
Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine's air defences are struggling to counter.
June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said.
Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month in 2024, it said.
At the same time, Russia's bigger army is making a new effort to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1000km front line.
Trump confirmed the US was sending Ukraine more badly needed Patriot air defence missiles and the European Union would pay the US for the "various pieces of very sophisticated" weaponry.
While the EU is not allowed under its treaties to buy weapons, EU member countries can and are, just as NATO member countries are buying and sending weapons.
A top ally of Trump, Republican senator Lindsey Graham, said Sunday that the conflict was nearing an inflection point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia's full-scale invasion.
It's a cause that Trump had previously dismissed as being a waste of US taxpayer money.
"In the coming days, you'll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves," Graham said on CBS's Face the Nation.
He added: "And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there's going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table."
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy for international investment, dismissed what he said were efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Washington, adding attempts at pressure were "doomed to fail".
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was due in Washington on Monday and Tuesday for talks with Trump, Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The visits came as Russian troops conducted a combined aerial strike at Shostka, in the northern Sumy region of Ukraine, using glide bombs and drones early Monday morning, killing two people, the regional prosecutor's office said.
The Russian defence ministry, meanwhile, said its air defences downed 11 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions on the border with Ukraine, as well as over the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.
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