As Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky prepares for a crucial meeting with U.S. President Trump this Sunday, aimed at outlining a potential peace agreement, a fresh wave of tension is being signaled from Moscow. Just hours before this pivotal discussion, Russian President Vladimir Putin has seemingly conveyed a stark message to both Ukraine and the United States through a renewed assault on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.

The peace deal, central to Sunday’s agenda, remains laden with complexities and challenges. One significant hurdle is the fact that the agreement, crafted by President Zelensky and his team, is set to be negotiated with President Trump without prior input from Russia. This means that President Putin will encounter a proposal that he has largely been excluded from shaping, potentially complicating the path to consensus.

Russia attacked Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine with missiles and drones on Saturday, ahead of what President Volodymyr Zelensky said would be a key meeting with US President Donald Trump to work out a deal to end nearly four years of war.

Before the overnight attacks, Zelensky said his talks in Florida on Sunday would focus on the territory to be controlled by each side after a halt to the fighting that began in February 2022 with President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Russia’s smaller neighbour, Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.

Explosions sounded in Kyiv as Ukraine’s air defence units went into action, and the military said on the Telegram messaging app that missiles were being deployed. The air force said Russian drones were targeting the capital and regions in the northeast and south.

There appear to be quite a few details to be hammered out on any peace deal, and there’s one rather major stumbling block in the current process; the deal that is to be discussed Sunday is the brainchild of Ukraine’s president and his advisors, and he will be discussing it with President Trump – Vladimir Putin apparently is going to be presented with a proposal he had little or no say in drafting.