Vladimir Putin dismissed Donald Trump's peace efforts as Russia launched a deadly strike on Kyiv just hours before the high-stakes summit between Trump and President Zelenskyy.

Officials said the strike triggered "numerous explosions" and damage at the targeted oil refinery was still being assessed.

Several key issues remain unresolved in ongoing negotiations between Ukraine and the United States over a potential framework to end Russia’s war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week.

Pope Leo XIV delivers Christmas message calling for peace in Middle East and Ukraine, urging world leaders to reject violence and embrace dialogue.

Russia has ordered a winter troop surge to break the stalemate in Ukraine, but Ukrainian drone attacks on logistics and resupply channels will undermine this offensive.

Ukrainian forces say they have hit an oil terminal, a pipeline, two parked jet fighters, and two ships in a series of strikes on Russian soil

Ukraine has struck a major Russian oil refinery using British-supplied missiles, Kyiv said, in an escalation of attacks on Moscow’s energy infrastructure. Storm Shadow missiles hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region, triggering blasts, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.