Russia and US hold ‘frank’ talks on Ukraine war as deadly drone blitz on Kyiv continues

High-level talks between Sergei Lavrov and Marco Rubio have been held hours after another deadly blitz on Kyiv and the assassination of a senior Ukrainian intelligence officer in the capital.

The Russian Foreign Minister and the US Secretary of State held “frank” talks on the Ukraine war, both sides said, as Washington hit out at Moscow’s lack of “flexibility”..

Mr Rubio, America’s top diplomat, said Mr Lavrov shared new ideas on resolving the conflict which he promised to present to Donald Trump. It came as the US President vowed to make a “major statement... on Russia” on Monday.

The Mr Lavrov and Mr Rubio met in Kuala Lumpur hours after Moscow pummelled Kyiv for a second-straight night and as the United Nations said the number of victims from Russian attacks was at its highest level in three years.

Mr Rubio said Mr Lavrov had floated something “new” on the conflict, but did not give details.

“It’s not a new approach. It’s a new idea or a new concept that I’ll take back to the president to discuss,” he said.

He added that it was not something that “automatically leads to peace, but it could potentially open the door to a path.”

The US diplomat said he had also conveyed Mr Trump’s anger that the more than three-year war, triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion, was still ongoing, criticising Moscow’s lack of “flexibility”.

Mr Trump, who forced the warring countries to open negotiations for the first time in three years, this week accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of talking “bullshit” on Ukraine.

The US leader’s efforts to secure a ceasefire have failed to extract any concessions from the Kremlin, despite multiple calls with Mr Putin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the United States would deliver more weapons to Kyiv and that he had “specific dates” on when they would arrive.

Mr Zelensky said in an X post that Ukraine was “ready” for different approaches to “scale up protection”, including by “purchasing a large defense package from the United States, jointly with Europe”.

Mr Trump seemed to back up such an agreement. In an interview with American broadcaster NBC late on Thursday, he said NATO was “paying” the United States for weapons to send to Ukraine.

“We’re sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, 100 per cent ... And then NATO is going to be giving those weapons (to Ukraine),” Trump said.

NATO secretary general Mark Rutte said he had spoken with Mr Trump and was “working closely with allies to get Ukraine the help they need”.

The leaders of Britain and France meanwhile announced they had prepared plans for a peacekeeping force to be deployed to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.

Ukraine said that two people -- a 22-year-old policewoman on duty at a metro station and a 68-year-old woman -- were killed in the latest assault on the capital.

AFP journalists heard loud detonations reverberating over Kyiv throughout the night and saw flashes from air defence systems illuminating the sky.

Resident Karyna Wolf tsaid she could hear the growing buzz of a drone until a large explosion rocked the flats just two floors above in her building.

“I immediately jumped away from the wall, away from the windows and ran into the hallway, and in those seconds there was an explosion. There was a lot of glass shards flying at me,” the 25-year-old said.

As Mr Rubio and Mr Lavrov met in Kuala Lumpur, Mr Zelensky was at a conference in Rome, where he called for more international political and military support.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 415 drones and missiles at the country while Zelensky urged allies to quickly roll out fresh sanctions against Moscow.

The fresh onslaught came just one night after Russia fired a record 741 long-range drones and missiles.

Officials said the nighttime attack on Kyiv also wounded 22 people.

Reporters saw firefighters putting out flames in a damaged residential building and people emerging from shelters, carrying sleeping mats and pets after the air alert was lifted.

Russia’s defence ministry said the strike targeted “military-industrial enterprises” in Kyiv as well as airbases.

The UN announced that attacks on Ukrainian cities in June had led to a three-year high in the number of civilians killed or wounded.

It said it had verified at least 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded during the month -- the highest combined toll since April 2022.

A senior Ukrainian security officer was gunned down in a residential parking lot in Kyiv on Thursday before his assailant fled on foot in daylight, according to authorities and video footage verified by Reuters.

Kyiv’s police force said it was working to identify the shooter and that “measures are being taken to detain him”. The slain agent was a colonel in the Security Service of Ukraine, an official said.