Ukraine, Russia trade deadly strikes as negotiators hammer at deal

KIEV

Russia rained missiles and drones overnight on Kiev, killing six people, authorities said on Tuesday, as three people died in Russia's Rostov region in massive Ukrainian strikes.

The heightened attacks came after U.S. President Donald Trump initially gave Kiev until Nov. 27, the American holiday of Thanksgiving, to respond to his proposal to end the fighting, a timeline and blueprint that European leaders have baulked at.

The overnight barrage was Russian leader Vladimir Putin's "terrorist response" to the U.S. proposal, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said on social media.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kiev's military administration, said four people died and at least three were wounded in the Svyatoshynsky district. Emergency services earlier said two people died in a strike on an apartment building in the eastern Dniprovsky quarter.

Before dawn Tuesday, Russia's Defense Ministry said it had intercepted and destroyed 249 Ukrainian drones, one of the highest figures reported.

In Russia's Rostov region, acting governor Yuri Sliusar said at least three people were killed.

In the Krasnodar frontier region, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev called the overnight bombardment "one of the Kiev regime's most sustained and massive attacks."

Kiev and its allies spent the weekend hammering away at Washington's 28-point plan, which initially hewed close to Russia's hardline demands, requiring the invaded country to cede territory, cut its military and pledge never to join NATO.

An updated version, aiming to "uphold Ukraine's sovereignty," was thrashed out over the weekend at emergency talks in Geneva.

"We must be cognizant that Russia will not ease its pressure on Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

France's Emmanuel Macron warned against any "capitulation" by Kiev, adding in an interview broadcast on Tuesday that only the Ukrainians could decide on what territorial concessions they were willing to make.

"The only question we don't have an answer to is whether Russia is ready to make a lasting peace," he said. "A peace where they don't re-invade Ukraine" later on.

Putin, who welcomed the original U.S. plan to end the fighting, has threatened to seize more Ukrainian territory if Kiev walks away from the negotiations.

Ukrainian, American and European officials met in Switzerland on Nov. 23 after the U.S. proposal to halt the war was widely criticized as requiring too many concessions from Kiev.

A joint U.S.-Ukrainian statement after the weekend talks announced an "updated and refined peace framework."

While the latest draft has not been published, the White House hailed it as progress, and the joint statement affirmed "any future agreement must fully uphold Ukraine's sovereignty."

The White House has pushed back on criticism that Trump was favoring Russia.

"The idea that the United States of America is not engaging with both sides equally in this war to bring it to an end is a complete and total fallacy," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Nov. 24.