Russia struck Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, on Tuesday, just a day after U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited the city for peace negotiations.
Russia struck Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, with a barrage of ballistic missiles on Tuesday, just one day after U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited the city in an attempt to reignite peace negotiations.
Explosions were heard early Tuesday morning local time, indicating that the three-day pause in fighting as the U.S. representatives arrived in both countries’ capitals had ended. Residential buildings in two parts of Kyiv were reportedly damaged, and officials warned residents to shelter in place.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said that residents were reportedly trapped inside a residential building following the attacks, CNN reports.
The attacks also caused fires throughout the city, including one at an educational institution.
“Substantive progress was made, including movement on scheduling additional trilateral talks,” Witkoff said.
Russia and Ukraine had agreed to pause attacks on each other’s capitals for the duration of the diplomatic talks.
Officials from the U.K., France, and Germany were also in Ukraine to join the second round of talks. Trump’s commitment to ending the war has lost momentum in recent months amid the administration’s focus on the Iran war.
On Saturday, Putin held over three hours of talks with Kushner and Witkoff, but no major developments were announced.
Footage released by the Kremlin showed Putin on Saturday greeting the pair and saying the current situation “is not so easy.” Putin also thanked Trump for his peace efforts, though critics have raised doubts over whether Russia is committed to achieving peace.
On Friday, Trump swerved a chance to condemn Putin, despite an attempted drone strike on a German airport that allies, including the U.K., blamed on Russia.