Ukrainian Negotiators to Visit U.S. for Talks Friday and Saturday, Zelenskiy Says

Ukrainian negotiators will visit the United States for talks on Friday and Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday, as he urged President Donald Trump to step up pressure on Russia, according to Reuters.

Zelenskiy made the remarks during a visit to Pryluky, a northern town hit by a deadly Russian attack a day earlier, Reuters reported. According to the Associated Press, the death toll in Pryluky rose to 22, including five children, after a missile struck a residential building, and at least 54 people were injured.

Zelenskiy questions talk of economic projects with Moscow

Zelenskiy argued that Washington cannot “negotiate with the Russians about future economic projects” while also describing diplomacy as stalemated, according to Reuters. His comment came as Reuters, in reporting carried by BusinessWorld on Thursday, said U.S. and Russian officials, including special envoy Jared Kushner and Kremlin adviser Kirill Dmitriev, have discussed bringing a U.S. investor into the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which carried Russian gas to Germany before the invasion. A White House official told Reuters there had been “no Nord Stream discussions recently,” and Reuters noted the pipelines are sanctioned by the United States and the European Union.

Visit follows an intensive wave of strikes

The trip comes as Russia steps up attacks ahead of winter. According to the Associated Press, Russian strikes in eastern Ukraine on Thursday killed 30 people, including an attack on a public bus, and regional authorities halted public transport in Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, citing the deteriorating security situation. The AP also reported that Ukraine’s grid operator ordered emergency power outages in Kyiv and that Zelenskiy warned Russia is likely to escalate daily missile and drone attacks as winter approaches, while appealing to NATO countries for additional defense support, including anti-ballistic capabilities and interceptor investments.

Reuters reported that Moscow’s forces have intensified drone and guided-bomb strikes on Kramatorsk and other cities in Ukraine’s so-called fortress belt in the Donetsk region, and that Russia has demanded Ukraine cede the rest of the region still under Kyiv’s control before it stops fighting, a demand Kyiv refuses.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters and the Associated Press.