Vladimir Putin at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, June 5, 2026
Sunday’s Coverage: Kyiv Strikes 1,550+ Miles Inside Russia
UPDATE 0727 GMT:
Ukraine’s air defenses downed 112 drones, including 56 of 70 jet-powered UAVs, and three missiles launched by Russia overnight. Strikes were recorded at 15 locations.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: The Kremlin says it will join talks with Ukraine, including the US, after the American midterm elections and Russia’s National Unity Day on November 4.
Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told State outlet Vesti on Sunday, “The next deadline is now November 4, our major holiday. After that, we will be ready to resume negotiations.”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said last Friday that the trilateral talks, the first since February, are expected in the first half of November. The UAE’s Abu Dhabi is a possible venue.
The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected proposals for a ceasefire on current frontlines, as it seeks more Ukrainian territory and the weakness of the rest of the country.
Zelensky: We Must Have Security Guarantees
Zelensky reiterated on Sunday that security guarantees “cannot be dictated by the Russian side”, and “restrictions on our army and Ukraine’s neutrality are not up for discussion”.
He added that the forthcoming talks cannot force Ukraine’s surrender of territory, notably the rest of the Donetsk region in the east of the country. He pushed aside the proposal of Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, that Ukraine could give up Donetsk for minor Russian concessions over their occupation of parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south.
The territorial issue is a red line that can only be discussed at the level of leaders.
Everyone must understand. First, we are not exchanging anything for anything.
The President challenged recent moves by Donald Trump — purchases of Russian diesel fuel and refusal to implement sanctions passed by the US Congress last month — that undermine economic restrictions on Russia.
When we talk about Russia’s loyalty, we should not buy it at such a price. Because without sanctions, we could find ourselves in a trilateral dialogue where we still do not know what will happen next, but the sanctions have already been lifted. And who will have the strength we had at the beginning of the war to impose all those sanctions again?
While pursuing a trilateral leaders’ meeting, Zelensky called for ceasefires of attacks on energy infrastructure, ports, and shipping.
“If this is just a political trick and Putin is simply saying, “Yes, I’m ready,” because he does not want escalation with America before the elections — then we will see very quickly in November whether it was a trick or not.
He called on partners to speed up supply of air defense interceptors, noting that in the past week, “Russia has launched about 1,600 guided bombs, 48 missiles of various types, including ballistic missiles, and almost 2,300 strike drones at Ukraine”.
