Ahead of Trump-Putin call, Russia launches massive drone attack on Ukraine

Top U.S. and Ukrainian officials met Sunday in Rome, setting the stage for a Monday phone call between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that is shaping up to be the make-or-break moment for the U.S.-led ceasefire push.

Although Mr. Putin claimed to want peace, Moscow doubled down on its aggression with a deadly drone attack on Kyiv. Ukrainian military leaders said the Saturday and Sunday drone attack on their country was the largest since the war began in February 2022.

Administration officials seemed to set a lofty bar and portrayed Mr. Trump’s one-on-one interactions with his Russian counterpart as the only pathway remaining to an elusive ceasefire.

Mr. Trump is personally intervening in the peace process amid growing White House frustration about Russia’s assaults and Mr. Putin’s refusal of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s invitation to meet face to face in Istanbul.

Mr. Zelenskyy met with Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other high-level American officials in Rome. Photos posted on Mr. Zelenskyy’s X account showed a smiling Ukrainian leader seated beside a smiling Mr. Vance. The atmosphere appeared to be far different from their tense, antagonistic Oval Office meeting with Mr. Trump in late February.

In social media posts accompanying those photos, Mr. Zelenskyy emphasized that Mr. Putin sent a delegation of lower-ranking officials to Istanbul last week. The Russian leader appeared to be standing in the way of progress, as Mr. Zelenskyy agreed to meet with Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump volunteered to attend the meeting if it would help secure a deal.

“During our talks we discussed negotiations in Istanbul to where the Russians sent a low-level delegation of non-decision-makers. I reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and underscored the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible,” Mr. Zelenskyy said on X.

“We have also touched upon the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, battlefield situation and upcoming prisoners’ exchange. Pressure is needed against Russia until they are eager to stop the war. And, of course, we talked about our joint steps to achieve a just and durable peace,” he said. “Thank you to all American people for the support and leadership in saving lives.”

Top Trump administration officials seemed to indicate that, with other avenues seemingly exhausted, it was up to Mr. Trump to make a breakthrough with Mr. Putin.

“I believe that the president is going to have a successful call with Vladimir Putin. They know each other. The president is determined to get something done here,” White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, a key player in the U.S. push for a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire, told ABC’s “This Week” program Sunday.

“If he can’t do it, then nobody can,” Mr. Witkoff said.

In an interview with a Russian journalist Sunday, Mr. Putin said he was also seeking peace.

“The objectives are about the elimination of the original causes of this crisis, the formation of conditions for the long-lasting and sustainable peace and the provision of security to Russia,” Mr. Putin said, according to Russia’s state-run Tass news agency, referring to the objectives of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine. 

‘We don’t have time to waste’

Mr. Putin’s words don’t seem to match Russia’s actions.

Ukrainian officials said the massive strikes near Kyiv were lethal.

Ukraine’s air force said Russian forces launched 273 drones or decoys. The attacks targeted the country’s Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions. One woman was killed, Ukrainian authorities said, and another three people, including a 4-year-old, were wounded.

Those kinds of attacks have frustrated the administration at delicate moments in the U.S.-led ceasefire push. Mr. Trump has pleaded with Mr. Putin on social media to “STOP” such attacks.

However, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency said Sunday on Telegram that Russia plans a “training and combat launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile” Monday evening, just hours after Mr. Trump speaks with Mr. Putin.

Although the lower-level talks in Istanbul didn’t produce a ceasefire deal, Russia and Ukraine agreed to a major swap of 1,000 prisoners each. They were the first official negotiations between the two nations since the early days of the war. In that sense, the talks were widely viewed as a positive step, even if disappointing given Mr. Putin’s absence.

Over the weekend, Mr. Trump said he would speak with Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelenskyy to advance the peace process.

“I will be speaking, by telephone, to President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Monday, at 10:00 a.m. The subjects of the call will be, stopping the ‘bloodbath’ that is killing, on average, more than 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and trade,” Mr. Trump posted Saturday in all caps on social media.

“I will be speaking to President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and then, with President Zelenskyy, various members of NATO,” he posted in all caps. “Hopefully it will be a productive day, a ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war, a war that should never have happened, will end. God bless us all!!!”

Mr. Trump promised to end the war quickly after taking office in January, but the administration’s frustration has become increasingly clear. Mr. Rubio said in an interview over the weekend that “we don’t have time to waste.”

“There are a lot of other things happening in the world that we also need to be paying attention to. So we don’t want to be involved in this process of just endless talks. There has to be some progress, some movement forward,” Mr. Rubio told CBS’s “Face the Nation” in an interview that aired Sunday. “And if at the end of this, in the next few days, we get a document produced by both sides, and it shows that both sides are making concessions and being realistic and rational in their approach, then I think we can feel good about continuing to remain engaged.

“If, on the other hand, what we see is not very productive, perhaps we’ll have a different assessment,” Mr. Rubio said.

If the administration decides to apply more pressure on Moscow, then economic sanctions or secondary tariffs on Russia’s oil industry, the lifeblood of its economy, are the most likely option.