Ukraine-Russia war latest: Moscow resumes drone attacks after Zelensky challenges Putin to meet for peace talks

Russia launched at least 108 drones across Ukraine overnight and struck a civilian freight train, injuring its driver, Ukrainian authorities said this morning.

The swarm of Russian drone attacks comes just hours after European leaders joined president Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky in demanding a 30-day ceasefire starting today.

Overnight, Ukraine’s air force said its air defences destroyed 55 of the drones that Russia launched from 11pm on Sunday (2000 GMT).

The attack included also 30 simulator drones that were lost along the way without hitting anything. Drones were shot down in the east, north, south and central parts of Ukraine, the air force said.

Russian president Vladimir Putin called demands for ceasefire “ultimatums” and in turn, proposed direct talks with Ukraine aimed at ending the war in Thursday, an initiative embraced by Donald Trump.

Foreign secretary David Lammy is set to host European peers today to discuss support for Ukraine and greater regional defence cooperation in the run-up to prime minister Keir Starmer’s summit with European Union leaders next week.

Mr Lammy was due to hold talks with representatives of France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland and the EU, Britain’s foreign ministry said.

“We are facing a once-in-a-generation moment for the collective security of our continent,” Mr Lammy said in a statement. “The challenge we face today is not only about the future of Ukraine – it is existential for Europe as a whole.”

Mr Lammy planned to announce further sanctions targeting actors supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the statement said.

The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland travelled to Kyiv on Saturday to back Ukraine’s call for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire on Saturday, with the backing of US president Donald Trump.

An Australian man has been killed in Ukraine, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese confirmed today, with media reporting the victim was a former Australian soldier working for a charity which helps clear landmines.

The man and his British colleague died last week near the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum from injuries suffered when an improved explosive device went off in a building, the Australian Broadcasting Corp said in a report, citing an unidentified military source in Ukraine. Details had yet to be formally verified, the ABC added.

Mr Albanese said the foreign affairs department was providing support for the man’s family, but did not provide any specifics.

“Out of respect for the family’s privacy and consistent with our obligations, there is a limit to what we can say publicly at this time,” he told reporters.

“I can confirm he wasn’t a participant in the conflict, he was volunteering with a humanitarian organisation.”

The Australian man was working for the US-based Prevail Together, the ABC said.

A Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s railway infrastructure in the Donetsk region injured a locomotive driver of a civilian freight train, Ukrainian Railways said this morning.

“Truce proposals are being ignored, hostile attacks on railway infrastructure … continue,” Ukrainian Railways, Ukrzaliznytsia said on its Telegram channel.

The attack just a day after European leaders joined president Volodymyr Zelensky in demanding a 30-day ceasefire starting today.

John Bolton, a former Trump national security adviser, said Russian president Vladimir Putin risks “overplaying his hand” during the negotiations to establish peace with Ukraine.

“As this war drags on, I think his position does get weaker,” The Hill reported Mr Bolton as saying.

“The real question is whether, between the efforts of the United States, the efforts of Europe to get a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire, it’s going to happen.”

“Putin has already gotten a lot of concessions for what he wants. He wants to hold on to the territory Russia’s seized in Ukraine,” Mr Bolton said.

But he added that time is running out. “I think at this point, he may be at risk of overplaying his hand with Trump.”

In his first Sunday blessing, Pope Leo XIV called for a just peace in Ukraine and the release of prisoners of war and kidnapped children.

“I also appeal to the great powers of the world, repeating the eternal call ‘Never again war’”, said Leo from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, addressing approximately 100,000 people who gathered below.

Pope Leo also quoted Pope Francis, who condemned a series of conflicts that are devastating the world today, calling it “the third world war in parts.”

“I carry in my heart the suffering of the beloved Ukrainian people,” he said. “May everything possible be done to achieve a true, just and lasting peace as soon as possible.”

He also called for the return of Ukrainian children home.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday called a proposal by Russian president Vladimir Putin to hold direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul a “good sign.”

During an overnight news conference in Moscow, Mr Putin proposed the resumption of direct peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv in Istanbul, starting on Thursday.

In a press release published by the German government’s press and information office, Mr Merz was quoted as saying that Berlin and the so-called coalition of the willing called for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.

“If the Russian side now signals a willingness to talk, that is initially a good sign. But it is far from sufficient,” he further said.

Standing under the dome of the Capitol Building, the bombastic, newly sworn-in 47th President of the United States, previously its 45th commander-in-chief, delivered a dark and partisan address before the throng of lawmakers and dignitaries.

There was a nod to one particular complaint, sandwiched between promises to build the strongest military the world has ever seen and a desire for an expansionist America, Trump said: “We will measure our success, not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.”

He continued: “My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That’s what I want to be, a peacemaker and a unifier.”

On the surface, an admirable mission statement, but underneath lies a personal motive and related gripe. President Trump has made no secret that one thing he really desires is a Nobel Peace Prize.

With their respective nations still yet to reach a formal ceasefire, Ukraine and Russia’s ambassadors appeared for dueling interviews Sunday on ABC News.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for Vladimir Putin, spoke to ABC’s Martha Raddatz in Moscow.

“Ukraine is trying to escape from negotiations,” he claimed. Mr Raddatz interjected: “Ukraine says they’re ready for a ceasefire right now, a 30 days ceasefire.”

“But they’re not ready for immediate negotiations,” Mr Peskov said. “President Putin is doing whatever is possible to solve the problem, to achieve a settlement through peaceful and diplomatic means. But having no peaceful and democratic means at hand, we have to continue military operation.”