Zelenskyy confirms upcoming discussion with Trump this week
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that a meeting with former U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled for the near future, saying the discussion with the U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had progressed well. The announcement follows talks in which Ukraine expressed readiness to withdraw forces from the eastern Donbas region if Moscow does the same and allows an international peacekeeping presence to monitor the area. Moscow has, however, maintained that it will not withdraw from the territories it has taken and has demanded that Ukraine return all remaining land in the Donbas.
In Ukraine, a directed‑energy strike on a house in the Zaporizhzhia region killed one person and wounded three. A separate missile impact on Uman injured six civilians. Overnight, drones struck the city of Mykolaiv, cutting power, and damaged energy and port facilities in Odesa.
Ukraine reported a successful strike on the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia’s Rostov region using British‑supplied Storm Shadow missiles, with multiple explosions observed. The attack injured a firefighter during efforts to contain the blaze. Ukrainian forces continue long‑range drone missions aimed at disrupting Russian oil export revenue while Russia attempts to disrupt the Ukrainian power grid and control winter conditions for strategic gain.