Donald Trump has lashed out at Vladimir Putin after Russian strikes on Kyiv killed 12 people, saying "Vladimir, stop".
"I am not happy with the Russian strikes on Kyiv. Not necessary, and very bad timing," Trump wrote in a social media post, after Kyiv was bombarded by missiles and drones overnight on Thursday.
"Let's get this peace deal done," he added.
The US president has been under pressure to be more forceful with his Russian counterpart as efforts continue to broker a peace deal in the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine.
His latest personal intervention comes a day after he accused Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy of hampering peace talks by saying Kyiv could not recognise Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea — something which has been Ukraine's longstanding position.
The Kremlin did not immediately comment.
Asked at the White House by reporters if he believed Mr Putin would listen to his plea, Mr Trump said "I do".
He also insisted that Washington had its "own deadline" when it came to peace negotiations.
Earlier in the day, Mr Zelenskyy had demanded the US and Ukraine's other allies put "strong pressure" on Russia to agree a ceasefire as a starting point to a lasting peace deal.
"I don't see any strong pressure on Russia or any new sanctions packages against Russia's aggression," he said during a press conference on Thursday.
“We believe that with greater pressure on the Russian Federation, we will be able to bring our sides closer."
Officials met at a summit in London on Wednesday to attempt to discuss what Kyiv may be prepared to agree to.
Mr Zelenskyy said a new document has been drawn up and was now on President Trump's desk in Washington.
"After the proposal from the United States, other papers appeared, and I believe that today, this format, this document, is on President Trump's desk," he said.
He said Ukraine could do "everything" its allies wanted but would not recognise Russia's annexation of Crimea as it was considered illegal under Ukraine's constitution.
"We do everything that our partners have proposed, only what contradicts our legislation and the constitution we cannot do," he said.
"Anything that contradicts our values or our constitution cannot be included in any agreement."
He added that any further compromises on Ukraine's part would be discussed once a ceasefire was in place.
Meanwhile, several world leaders have condemned Russia over the latest violence visited on Ukraine's capital.
"The only thing to do is for President Putin to finally stop lying," French President Emmanuel Macron said during a visit to Madagascar on Thursday, local time, who pointed out that the Russian leader told Washington "he wants peace" but continued "to bombard Ukraine".
"In Ukraine, they only want a single answer: Does President Putin agree to an unconditional ceasefire?," he said.
The Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, said "peace cannot be negotiated under fire", adding: "Kyiv was brutally attacked by Russia again last night.
"A clear message from the Kremlin: Russia has no real interest in peace."
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said the strikes on Kyiv were "a real reminder that Russia is the aggressor".
"That's why it's important to get Russia to an unconditional ceasefire," he said.
"Obviously, we had talks in London this week, Paris last week. We're making progress towards the ceasefire. It's got to be a lasting ceasefire."
The weapon that killed eight people in Kyiv was North Korean, a Ukrainian military source has told Reuters.
The missile struck a residential building in the Sviatoshynskyi district west of Kyiv's centre. Around 10 people were still missing in the morning, with some potentially buried under debris, officials at the site said.
Russia has not commented directly on the strike, with Kremlin saying only that it has been hitting "military and military-adjacent" targets. Russia and North Korea have denied weapons transfers that would violate UN embargoes.
Russia's military cooperation with North Korea grew rapidly as Moscow became internationally isolated after invading Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukraine says North Korea has supplied Russia with vast amounts of artillery shells as well as rocket systems, thousands of troops and ballistic missiles, which Moscow began using for strikes against Ukraine at the end of 2023.
By the start of 2025, Pyongyang had supplied Russia with 148 KN-23 and KN-24 ballistic missiles, Ukraine's military spy agency says.
ABC/Reuters
