Russia fired missiles at Ukraine shortly after talks in Saint Petersburg between US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attacks show that the Kremlin's position on the war has not changed.
Russia hit a dozen Ukrainian regions overnight, including Kyiv, killing at least two people and wounding 34, Mr Zelenskyy said. Residential houses, energy sites, a shopping mall and a monastery were damaged in Kyiv, where Russia has significantly intensified its strikes ahead of winter. He said the latest strikes began "almost immediately" after Mr Witkoff's hours-long meeting with Mr Putin.
The Kremlin had said it was willing to restart trilateral talks with Kyiv and Washington next month, while dismissing new ideas brought by Mr Witkoff as lacking substance. It said he briefed Mr Putin on "some new aspects in the approaches of the Europeans and Kyiv" from a meeting in Oslo, but that "there wasn't really much substance in them".
Russia also said it had downed 808 Ukrainian drones fired overnight and that two people were wounded in Moscow.
Mr Witkoff faced widespread criticism for calling Mr Putin a "humanitarian" after Moscow released an elderly US citizen who had been jailed on charges of fighting for Ukraine as a "mercenary". "Three waves of ballistic missiles have been launched at Kyiv by Russian 'humanitarians' since yesterday evening," Mr Zelenskyy said. He called on allies to keep up "real pressure" on Moscow and to send more air defence supplies.
US President Donald Trump sought an optimistic tone as his envoy returned from Russia, saying negotiators were "maybe now the closest we've been" to ending the war. In Kyiv and European capitals, hopes for a breakthrough were slim, with many worried the White House was siding with Moscow.
Mr Zelenskyy met Mr Witkoff in Norway a day before the US-Russia talks, after days of spiralling tensions between Washington and Kyiv. In recent days, Mr Trump has blocked new sanctions on Russia, struck a deal to buy Russian diesel, and called for the Ukrainian leader to be replaced.
Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022 in what it hoped would be a swift attack to topple Mr Zelenskyy and seize land. The war has become Europe's biggest conflict since World War II. Hundreds of thousands have been killed, millions forced from their homes, and much of eastern and southern Ukraine destroyed.
Mr Zelenskyy has backed resuming trilateral talks. Several rounds over the last 18 months have failed to move the sides closer to a deal. Russia is demanding that Ukraine pull out of territory in the eastern Donetsk region that it still controls, and wants sweeping political and military restrictions on the size of its army and Western alliances. Ukraine rejects the demands as tantamount to capitulation that would leave it exposed to a fresh attack.
Moscow also said a summit between Mr Trump, Mr Putin and China's Xi was being prepared in China for next month. Europeans and Ukraine worry a deal could be struck over their heads.