London – The Ukraine Air Force reported an important Russian attack on Monday night and until Tuesday morning, the greatest night flood for weeks, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President Donald Trump and a delegation of European leaders in Washington.
The Air Force said that Russia launched 270 drones and 10 missiles to Ukraine, of which 30 drones and six missiles were intercepted or suppressed. The Air Force reported the impacts of 40 drones and four missiles in 16 locations, and according to the reports, the debris fell into three locations.
The attack on Monday night was the biggest attack since Russia launched 309 drones and eight missiles in Ukraine on July 31, according to the daily figures published by the Air Force of Ukraine and analyzed by ABC News.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its forces demolished 23 Ukrainian drones during the night until Tuesday morning.
Thirteen of the ship were shot down on the Volgograd region, the ministry said. Regional governor Andrey Bocharov said on Telegram that the debris that falls fires in an oil refinery and on the roof of a hospital building, although he added that there were no casualties.
In this archive photo, the Ukrainian military triggered an anti -aircraft gun towards a Russian drone during an air attack near Pavlogra, Dnipropetrovsk region, on July 19, 2025.
Roman Pilipey/AFP through Getty Images
Night exchanges reserved a day of high -level conversations in Washington. Trump, Zelenskyy and a large number of European leaders gathered in the capital on Monday to discuss a possible road map to end Russia’s large -scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
Monday’s summit followed a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, during which Putin rejected a high immediate fire and demanded that Ukraine give up the entire region of eastern Donetsk in exchange for an end of the fighting, two sources told ABC News.
Before Monday’s meetings, Trump seemed to be pressing Zelenskyy to make a deal. “President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants, or can continue fighting,” Trump wrote on social networks on Sunday.
The president also said that Ukraine would not be allowed to join NATO and that Crimea could not recover, occupied by Russia in 2014.
Such comments raised concerns about another frantic Oval Office meeting, similar to the February visit of Zelenskyy, when the Ukrainian leader was publicly criticized by Trump and vice president JD Vance for his alleged ingratitude for the support of the US war.
But Monday’s meetings were cordial, although the parties still seemed to be separated in key issues.
Trump, Zelenskyy and European leaders confirmed their support for a direct bilateral meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin, a proposal that the Russian president has escapes repeatedly.
This meeting would be followed by a trilateral meeting that involves Trump, said the president. Zelenskyy said Ukraine is “ready” for a trilateral discussion. Trump commented: “I think it will be when, no if.”
Later, Trump published in Social Meda saying that he had spoken by phone with Putin “and began arrangements for a meeting, in a place to determine, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy.”
The Kremlin has not yet explicitly confirmed the preparation of Putin to attend such a meeting. Yuri Ushakov, a better Kremlin assistant, said in a statement that Trump and Putin “expressed their support for the continuation of direct negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump participate in a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on August 18, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
“In this sense, in particular, the idea was discussed that the level of representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian part should increase,” said Ushakov. “This refers to the representatives who participate in the aforementioned direct negotiations.”
On the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine, Trump said during his meeting with Zelenskyy: “We are going to discuss it today, but we will give them very good protection, very good security.”
Later, the president confirmed that Putin would accept security guarantees for Ukraine, although Russian officials said Monday that the presence of NATO troops in the country would be unacceptable.
Zelenskyy and his European partners again emphasized their desire for a complete fire, only after which peace negotiations could take place. Trump has repeatedly demanded a high fire since he returned to office in January, but seemed to leave the idea after the meeting last week with Putin.
“I don’t think I need fire,” Trump told Zelenskyy in the Oval office on Monday. “I know it could be good to have, but I can also strategically understand, as, well, you know, one country or another would not want.”
Trump added that he likes “the concept of high fire for a reason, because you would stop killing people immediately.”
Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to Trump for organizing the meeting, and then wrote on Telegram thanking the White House for “the important signal of the United States regarding the preparation to support and be part of” post -war security guarantees.
“The leaders personally came to support Ukraine and discuss everything that will bring us closer to real peace, a reliable security architecture that will protect Ukraine and all of Europe,” Zelenskyy wrote.
However, the comments after the meeting of European leaders hinted in unresolved obstacles to peace.
“You have an American president, European presidents and a Ukrainian president who want peace,” said French president Emmanuel Macron.
President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, on August 18, 2025 and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP through Getty Images
“For my part, I have the biggest doubts about the reality of a desire for peace by the Russian president, because while thinking he can win through war, he will,” Macron added. “Its ultimate goal is to take the greatest possible territory, weaken Ukraine and have a Ukraine that is not viable alone or that is within the Russian fold.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the thorny issue of Ukrainian territorial concessions was not discussed. “The Russian demand that kyiv renounces the free parts of Donbas is, to put it in perspective, equivalent to the United States having to give up Florida,” he said.
“A sovereign state cannot simply decide something like that. It is a decision that Ukraine must take in the course of negotiations,” Merz added.
Alexandra Hutzler of ABC News, Will Gretsky and Tanya Stukalova contributed to this report.
