Zelenskyy to Trump: Visit Ukraine before striking deal with Russia

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on US President, Donald Trump to visit Ukraine before reaching any agreement with Russia to end the ongoing war.

“Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,” Zelenskyy said during an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes.

The interview was recorded before a deadly Russian missile strike hit the northeastern city of Sumy on Sunday, killing 35 people and injuring 117 others.

Without offering evidence, Russia claimed it had targeted a meeting of Ukrainian troops with two Iskander missiles, killing 60 soldiers.

Trump responded to the incident by saying he had been informed it was a “mistake”, though he did not clarify the source of that information.

At the strike site in Sumy, a conference centre allegedly used for the military meeting is now in ruins, its roof gone and a crater marking the missile impact.

While Kyiv has not confirmed whether a gathering of soldiers took place, the local mayor has demanded resignations from security officials if such a meeting was indeed held.

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Any assembly of military personnel is a high-value target for Russian forces, and since the invasion began, civilians have frequently been caught in the crossfire — or, as some have argued, intentionally targeted.

The Sumy attack comes as the United States, Ukraine’s most powerful military backer, continues to pursue a negotiated end to the war under Trump’s leadership.

Responding to the attack, Trump said it was “terrible” and repeated that he had been told it was a mistake.

He offered no additional details. Meanwhile, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, condemned the strike, saying it had crossed “any line of decency.”

It is unclear whether Trump will accept Zelenskyy’s invitation to visit. So far, only one senior figure from Trump’s team — US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — has visited Kyiv.

His visit, however, focused on pressing Zelenskyy to sign a contract that would trade Ukraine’s mineral resources in exchange for continued US military support. Zelenskyy refused the offer, citing the deal’s heavy bias in Washington’s favour.

Zelenskyy has emphasized that while Trump is seeking improved ties with Moscow in hopes of brokering a ceasefire, Russia continues to carry out deadly attacks on Ukrainian civilians.

US special envoy, Steve Witkoff has already met with Russian President, Vladimir Putin three times, raising concerns in Kyiv that Russia is leveraging the talks to gain further ground.
(BBC)

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