PM to host Zelenskyy and EU leaders for Ukraine talks at No. 10

The Prime Minister will host Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz at No. 10 to discuss ongoing support for Ukraine.

The Ukrainian leader will visit the UK with the French President and German Chancellor on Sunday, Downing Street said.

The nations are some of Kyiv’s staunchest allies, with the UK and France leading the so-called “coalition of the willing” initiative to provide security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace process.

Their meeting comes after a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack targeted St Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, on Saturday, underscoring Kyiv’s growing ability to hit deep inside Russia.

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Residents of the city were told not to leave their homes on Saturday following the strike, with Governor Alexander Beglov warning of disruptions to mobile internet services.

Three people sustained minor injuries in the attack, Beglov said, and no casualties were reported.

Regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said 141 drones had been shot down over the surrounding Leningrad region in an “unprecedented attack”, while Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences shot down 376 Ukrainian drones.

“It is time to end this war. But Russia’s ruler wants to keep fighting,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X on Saturday, sharing footage of the strike’s aftermath.

“Last night, our drones covered a distance of about 1,000 kilometers to the St. Petersburg region — to the enemy navy’s arsenals and a base in Kronstad.”

Zelenskyy said the drones had also hit an oil depot in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region.

The attacks are the latest blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to cast the conflict as a distant event that doesn’t affect Russian daily life.A Ukrainian drone strike set ablaze an oil terminal in the city and hit a nearby naval base Wednesday, hours before the opening of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin’s annual showcase for investment.On Friday, the Russian president rejected a proposal by Zelenskyy for a face-to-face meeting on the four-year conflict, saying he sees “no point” in it.

A plume of black smoke is seen over the port of St. Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday after a Ukrainian drone attack Credit: AP

In an open letter posted on Thursday, Zelenskyy had acknowledged shifting US priorities, saying it would be wrong to simply wait for the Trump administration to turn its focus back to ending the war in Ukraine amid the conflict in Iran.

“When you came to power in Russia more than 26 years ago, many people in Ukraine viewed you positively. That is how it was. But that is now in the past,” Zelenskyy wrote to Putin.

“Now, the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians view it positively that our long-range drones paid a visit to the opening of your forum in St. Petersburg, covering a distance of more than 1,000 kilometres.

“As you know very well, that distance is not the limit of our capabilities.”

Responding to Putin’s refusal to meet, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said things would “only get worse for Russia” in a post on X on Saturday.

“Battlefield losses will continue to grow. Failures will get more humiliating,” Sybiha said.

“The economy will plunge deeper into recession. More jobs will be lost, taxes will be growing, and inflation will hit those most vulnerable.”There are already no safe places in Russia that can be exempt from Ukraine’s long-range sanctions. But their intensity will continue to grow.”

Russia’s defence ​ministry said on ​Saturday ‌it ​had captured Shevchenko, a settlement in Ukraine’s Kharkiv ‌region, according to ‌state media RIA Novosti. In Ukraine, one person was killed and three wounded overnight into Saturday in the Dnipropetrovsk region, as Russian forces struck three districts nearly 30 times with drones and artillery, regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said.In Zaporizhzhia, seven people sought medical care after a Russian drone strike started a fire at a parking lot, according to regional head Ivan Fedorov.Russia targeted Ukraine overnight with 272 strike drones, and air defenses shot down 249 of them, the Ukrainian air force said Saturday.

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