Kyiv, Ukraine: The Kremlin said on Friday that it sees no immediate diplomatic way out of the war in Ukraine, hours after launching its largest ever drone and missile barrage of the invasion.
The hours-long bombardments across Ukraine came just after a telephone call between the US and Russian presidents ended without any breakthrough.
AFP journalists in Kyiv heard drones buzzing over the capital and explosions ringing out throughout the night as Ukrainian air defence systems fended off the attack.
“We are interested in achieving our goals in the course of the special military operation and it is preferable to do it by political and diplomatic means,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, referring to its invasion, launched in February 2022.
“But as long as that is not possible, we are continuing the special operation,” he said in a briefing, including with AFP.
US President Donald Trump had said he made no progress in discussions one day earlier with President Vladimir Putin on ending the war, while the Kremlin vowed to pursue its war aims.
A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky were planning to speak later on Friday.
Tymur, a Kyiv resident who said he had experienced previous Russian attacks, told AFP that the assault in the early hours of Friday was different.
“Nothing like this attack had ever happened before. There have never been so many explosions,” he said.
