By Chris Summers
Contributing Writer
U.S. President Donald Trump has told Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt strikes on Ukraine, after Kyiv was pounded with missiles and drone attacks on Thursday.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! (Five thousand) soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the peace deal DONE!”
The Ukrainian government said that at least nine people were killed and more than 70 injured in the largest attack on the capital since July 2024.
The Kyiv City Military Administration said on its Telegram channel that a number of drones and ballistic missiles had hit the city.
Rescue operations were ongoing on Thursday in an effort to find more bodies under the debris, and it was feared the death toll could rise.
The strikes took place while the U.S. government was seeking to broker a truce in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Trump accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of prolonging the “killing field” by refusing to give up the Crimean Peninsula to Russia as part of a peace deal.
Crimea, which has an ethnic Russian majority, was transferred to the Soviet republic of Ukraine in 1954 by the then-leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev.
It was included in the state when Ukraine became independent in 1991, but separatists broke away from Kyiv in 2014, and Russia annexed it later that year, after holding a referendum.
The Ukrainian leader — who was elected president in 2019 and has remained in power in the absence of elections, which have been deferred until the war is over — has repeatedly said he will not agree to hand over any territory that Russia has occupied since the February 2022 invasion.
Zelenskyy Points Finger at Moscow
Zelenskyy pointed out on Thursday that Ukraine had agreed to the cease-fire proposal put forward by the United States 44 days ago but that Moscow had continued its attacks.
Later on Thursday, Trump was set to meet with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store to discuss the war in Ukraine and the reciprocal tariffs.
Norway, a NATO member and strong ally of Ukraine, shares a 123-mile border with Russia.
A scheduled meeting for Wednesday in London between foreign ministers to discuss peace proposals between Russia and Ukraine was indefinitely postponed.
The abrupt cancellation occurred shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called off a planned trip to London, where he was slated to attend the foreign ministers’ meeting.
On April 18, Rubio said the United States was ready to “move on” from efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine if there was no progress in the next few days.
On the same day, Ukraine’s economy minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, signed a memorandum of intent with the United States, paving the way for a rare-earths mineral agreement to be finalized this week.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal was due to travel to Washington at the start of this week to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and finalize the deal.
Ukraine has sizable deposits of rare earths — including graphite, lithium and titanium — used in electronics, as well as uranium.
The details of the agreement have not been made public, and it is unclear whether it contains the security guarantees that Zelenskyy has demanded to prevent future Russian aggression.
The minerals deal was originally due to be signed in March, but it did not go ahead after Zelenskyy clashed publicly with Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office in Washington on Feb. 28.
Zelenskyy later said the row was “regrettable” and promised he would sign the minerals deal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
