2,300 Drones: Zelenskyy Sets November Date for Trilateral Peace Talks

Ukraine, the United States, and Russia will meet in November to restart stalled peace negotiations.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the date for the trilateral summit in an interview on Sunday. He stated that Kyiv is prepared to discuss territorial issues at a leadership level. Other technical matters will be handled by specialized groups. Zelenskyy also renewed his call for a direct meeting with Vladimir Putin. He argued that the Russian president is the only official capable of making final decisions to end the conflict.

The Ukrainian president outlined specific boundaries for the upcoming discussions. Ukraine will not agree to limits on the size of its armed forces. Kyiv will also reject any enforced postwar neutrality. This position supports the country's long-standing goal of joining NATO. Some member states have previously shown hesitation regarding Ukraine's entry into the alliance.

Zelenskyy announced that US warnings regarding imminent Russian ballistic missile strikes have been fully restored. He credited a meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo for the improvement. Since early Saturday, SpaceX's Starshield satellite internet has operated at speeds of up to 420 kilometers per hour. The service had been throttled earlier in October due to diplomatic pressure from Washington.

The United States has urged Ukraine to pause attacks on Russian oil refineries. US officials argue that these strikes drive up global energy prices. Zelenskyy maintained that Kyiv will only stop targeting refineries under specific conditions. These include a Russian halt to strikes on Ukrainian power infrastructure, US permission to use Starshield over Russia for missile detection, or the delivery of Patriot missiles.

Zelenskyy reported that Russia launched nearly 2,300 strike drones at Ukrainian cities over the past week. He called on western allies to accelerate deliveries of interceptor missiles. In a social media post, the president detailed the recent volume of attacks. He listed approximately 1,600 guided bombs and 48 missiles of various types, including ballistic missiles, in addition to the drones.

Russia's defense ministry claimed success in several overnight and daytime strikes. The ministry said its drones hit a cargo vessel bound for the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk. A second drone strike targeted a cargo ship en route to the port of Odesa. Russian forces also struck a logistics center, a distribution center, and a terminal in Kharkiv. Reuters was unable to independently verify these reports.

A Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian border city of Belgorod killed three people and injured 13 on Sunday. A separate strike later that day killed one additional person. Regional governor Alexander Shuvayev stated that the overnight attack damaged 30 apartment buildings. In Bulgaria, a presidential election ended inconclusively on Sunday. Pro-western candidate Andrey Gyurov will face incumbent Iliana Yotova in a runoff. The vote occurred amid security concerns following recent drone attacks on ships in the Black Sea.