Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had floated the idea of exchanging occupied land, said the latest strikes showed the Kremlin was not interested in pursuing peace in Ukraine.
Zelensky had suggested exchanging Ukrainian-held chunks of Russia's region of Kursk for Russian-controlled territory in eastern and southern Ukraine in an interview published late Tuesday. The Kremlin dismissed the proposal outright in response.
"This is impossible," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "Russia has never and will never discuss the topic of exchanging its territory."
Peskov vowed that Ukrainian forces holding territory inside Russia would either be "destroyed" or pushed out.
Ukrainian forces rushed over the Russian border in August last year to wrest control over swathes of territory it hopes will be key to any future deal to end the grinding conflict.
- Combined missile strike -
The Kremlin's refusal to discuss land swaps came shortly after Zelensky announced that one person had been killed and at least four others were wounded -- including a child -- in the attack on Kyiv. It damaged apartment blocks, office buildings, and civilian infrastructure.
AFP journalists heard a volley of explosions ring out over the city and saw the body of one person killed covered in a black plastic sheet on a street littered with debris.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is "not preparing for peace -- he continues to kill Ukrainians and destroy cities," Zelensky wrote on social media after the attack.
"Only strong steps and pressure on Russia can stop this terror. Right now we need the unity and the support of all our partners in the fight for a just end to this war," he added.
Russia's defence ministry said it had carried out a "group missile strike" on Ukrainian military-industrial sites that produce drones, and claimed all targets had been hit.
Zelensky's comments on Russia's readiness for talks come on the back of weeks of mounting rhetoric from Moscow, Washington, and Kyiv over the possibility of negotiations that could end the nearly three-year Russian invasion.
Zelensky is due to meet US Vice President JD Vance on Friday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. That gathering will be dominated by the war, which has cost tens of thousands of lives.
- Flurry of meetings -
US President Donald Trump's special envoy Keith Kellogg, who is tasked with drawing up a proposal to halt the fighting, is also due to visit Ukraine next week, after the Zelensky-Vance meeting in Munich.
That trip would come just days before the three-year anniversary of Russia's invasion on February 24.
Trump took office vowing to end the war in Ukraine, possibly by leveraging billions of dollars in US assistance sent under former president Joe Biden, to force Kyiv into territorial concessions.
On Tuesday, Trump welcomed to the White House Marc Fogel, an American jailed in Russia on drug charges since 2021. He was released by Moscow and returned to the United States after US envoy Steve Witkoff secured his release.
The US president said Russia had acted "very nicely" with Fogel's release and he hoped it would be the "beginning of a relationship where we can end that war".
Peskov said the two sides had agreed to release Fogel for a Russian citizen in US detention. The identity of the freed Russian would be revealed once they were back in Russia, he added.
But he poured cold water over the idea that the exchange represented any "turning point" in ties, suggesting instead that the swap could help gradually thaw relations currently at their "lowest point".
- Russia advances on battlefield -
On the ground in Kyiv on Wednesday, emergency services said that some 120 rescue workers had been deployed to three districts of the capital in the aftermath of the attack and that fires sparked by the barrage had been extinguished.
North of Kyiv in the Chernigiv region, governor Vyacheslav Chaus said Russian forces had targeted "critical infrastructure" in the barrage and that two people had been wounded.
Ukraine's air force said it had shot down six missiles and 71 out of 123 drones, including Iranian-designed Shahed attack vehicles.
The mounting discussions on a possible end to the conflict come at a difficult time for Ukraine on the battlefield. Kyiv's army has been losing ground to better-resourced Russian forces at strategic points along the sprawling front line.
Trump's defence chief lays down demands on Ukraine, NATO
Brussels, Belgium (AFP) Feb 12, 2025 -
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth laid out President Donald Trump's red lines and demands on Ukraine and NATO to Washington's allies on Wednesday, telling Europe it must step up on supporting Kyiv and its own defence.
In a forceful introduction at NATO headquarters, the former television anchor set out the contours for a future deal that Trump has vowed to reach on ending Russia's war on Ukraine.
"Our message is clear, the bloodshed must stop and this war must end," he told a group of Kyiv's backers that included his Ukrainian counterpart.
Hegseth said trying to return Ukraine to its pre-2014 borders was an "illusionary goal" that would extend the fighting.
The US defence chief said security guarantees would be needed for Ukraine but that NATO membership was "not realistic," and made clear the United States would not deploy troops on the ground.
"Instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops," he said.
Hegseth said that Trump was "unleashing US energy production" and urging other producers to do so in a bid to drive down prices -- and push Moscow to negotiate.
But he insisted that Europe must now start providing the "overwhelming share" of aid to Ukraine.
The tough US stance had largely been expected but it will still provide a cold shower for Kyiv as its forces struggle to hold back Russia.
Hegseth's visit to NATO headquarters is part of the first flurry of high-ranking American visits to Europe since Trump took power.
Those are set to culminate with Vice President JD Vance meeting Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky in Munich on Friday.
- 'Imbalanced relationship' -
On European security, Hegseth echoed Trump's demands for NATO to more than double its defence spending target to five percent of GDP.
While he said Washington remained committed to NATO, the United States will "no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship" that sees Europe underpaying.
He warned that US prime interests were focused on the threat from China and that there may be "trade offs" on American involvement in Europe.
"As the United States prioritises its attention to these threats, European allies must lead from the front," he said.
US allies have already stepped up their spending in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and are pledging to do more to back Kyiv.
"Secretary Hegseth, we hear you," said Britain's defence minister John Healey in a brief response.
"We hear your concerns on stepping up for Ukraine, we are and we will. On stepping up for European security. We are and we will."
Britain announced a fresh package of aid for Ukraine worth $185 million.
- 'Do a lot more' -
NATO's European members are terrified about Ukraine being forced into a bad deal that lets Moscow claim victory and leave them facing the threat of an emboldened Russia.
The United States has underpinned European security through NATO over the past seven decades.
Hegseth's broadside is set to fire a starting pistol on negotiations for setting a new spending target for alliance members at a June summit in the Netherlands.
NATO chief Mark Rutte said he expects the goal to be raised to "north of three percent".
"We need to do a lot more so we have what we need to deter and defend. And so that there is more equitable burden sharing," he said.
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