Updated April 25, 2025 at 12:22 PM ET
MOSCOW and KYIV — Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed White House envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Friday for another round of talks focused on ending the war in Ukraine.
Their meeting followed news that a car explosion had killed a Russian general outside Moscow, and comes a day after deadly Russian strikes on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine.
Witkoff was expected to present a U.S.-backed peace plan in Moscow, in his fourth meeting with Putin since the Trump administration began efforts to end the war.
"The discussions allowed the U.S. and Russia to further bridge their positions not only about Ukraine but on a host of other international issues," Putin's adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said after the meeting.
While details of the U.S. proposal are not publicly known, administration officials indicate it involves acknowledging Russia's control over territories seized from Ukraine by force.
That includes the Crimean Peninsula — illegally annexed by Russia back in 2014.
Ukraine has rejected the idea of giving up Crimea or the other lands Russia has captured since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a refusal that has frustrated Trump.
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The White House still projects some confidence about an eventual deal, but says Trump's patience is running thin.
"I want to see if we can have a deal," Trump told reporters Thursday. "We're putting a lot of pressure on Russia," he said, but declined to say if Russia could face additional sanctions. Trump suggested it would be clear "in two weeks" whether a deal was possible.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States had presented both sides with "options" for ending the war and said there was "a good meeting" on the conflict Wednesday. "We've shown them the finish line. We need both of them to say yes, but what happened last night with those missile strikes should remind everybody of why this war needs to end," Rubio said.
Yet Trump has also expressed frustration with Russia over its continued attacks on Ukrainian cities. At 1 a.m. Thursday, Russia launched strikes in Kyiv, killing at least 12 people, including two children, and injured more than 70. It was one of the deadliest attacks on the capital city since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.
Later Thursday morning in a social media post, President Trump said he was "not happy with the Russian strikes on Kyiv," and addressed President Putin directly: "Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!"
The Ukrainian military said Russia launched at least 215 drones and missiles at Ukraine early Thursday, most aimed at the capital.
NPR's Ukraine bureau heard drones flying over the neighborhood in the middle of the night, followed by multiple explosions, as Ukraine's air defense tried to shoot down the drones.
"Many houses were destroyed," said Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko in a video post on the Telegram messaging app. "We are now going through the rubble with our hands."
A missile destroyed a two-story apartment building in western Kyiv's Sviatoshynskyi district, where 57-year-old Olena Khirkovska lived with her husband. She told NPR that she awoke after hearing an explosion, then fumbled for her glasses. She and her husband ran out in their bathrobes.
"Then came a second explosion," she said. "And that was it. We no longer had walls."
Outside, in their slippers, they heard their neighbors screaming and saw their building caved in. They watched rescue workers carry out the wounded, a child among them. Other neighbors were dead.
Several other buildings nearby were also hit, including the apartment where 40-year-old Maria Rumiantseva lived with her son and elderly mother — who is wheelchair-bound.
"Everything in our home was blown away," she told NPR. "There's nothing left."
Her neighbor Lyudmyla Pavlenko is worried about her son, who was injured in this attack.
Pavlenko says Kyiv felt much safer before President Trump started his efforts to end the war.
"Before Trump, the Russians didn't bomb so much," she said. "When Trump started to support Russia, they started bombing us more."
Zelenskyy says, "I don't see much pressure on Russia"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced he would cut short his diplomatic trip to South Africa and return to Kyiv because of the strikes.
Speaking at a news conference in Pretoria alongside South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine, unlike Russia, had agreed to Trump's request for an unconditional ceasefire.
"I don't see much pressure on Russia or any new strong sanctions packages against Russian aggression, for now," he told reporters.
Zelenskyy said he would still like the U.S. to act as a guarantor of any peace deal, however. Asked by reporters if he would consider making any concessions, Zelenskyy said being at the negotiating table with "terrorists" was already a concession.
The Ukrainian leader's visit to South Africa comes as he's looking to shore up international support. South Africa's leadership has cast itself as neutral on the war in Ukraine and has sought to broker a peace deal, but was accused by the previous U.S. administration of supporting Moscow.
Ramaphosa said he had spoken to both Trump and Putin ahead of Zelenskyy's visit and agreed on the need for an end to the conflict.
The Trump administration hasn't offered details of a peace plan. But in public statements, President Trump and top officials have pushed Zelenskyy to cede territory in exchange for vague security guarantees against future Russian aggression.
In a Truth Social post, Trump criticized Zelenskyy for refusing to recognize the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, as part of Russia.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a briefing Thursday that Trump's remarks were in line with Russia's position.
The U.S. is threatening to walk away from peace talks if they take too long. While a candidate, Trump insisted that he would end the war in 24 hours.
Zelenskyy responded with his own social media post, noting that "emotions have run high," but held out hope that "joint work will lead to lasting peace." He then posted a link to a declaration from the first Trump administration supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Zelenskyy has said a full ceasefire must be established before details of a peace deal are discussed.
Ukraine agreed unconditionally to a U.S.-brokered 30-day ceasefire proposal last month. Russia, meanwhile, stepped up attacks on Ukraine during that time. This month, Russian missile strikes killed 20, including nine children, in Zelenskyy's hometown, the central city of Kryvyi Rih, and another 35 in the northeastern city of Sumy.
Russian general killed in a car bomb
Russia's investigative committee says the victim of Friday's car bomb was Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, the deputy chief of the Russian General Staff's Main Operational Directorate. Investigators say they found evidence of a remote explosive device packed with shrapnel.
No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, assassination attempts have been repeatedly carried out against Russian military officials, as well as against pro-war nationalists and Kremlin-backed authorities in occupied Ukraine.
Charles Maynes reported from Moscow. Kate Bartlett reported from Pretoria, South Africa.
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