Trump tells Zelenskyy to 'settle with Putin' as new Russia-Ukraine strikes kill 10

Russian attacks killed four people in Ukraine on Saturday and Ukrainian strikes killed six in Russia and occupied territory, officials said, as President Trump pressed Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make a deal with Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy said Moscow is not preparing to stop and asked Trump to use new sanctions authority.

By US Brief desk · Updated 2026-09-26T20:14:00-07:00

Official portrait of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a dark suit and tie

Editor’s note: Saturday strike deaths and Trump’s “settle with Putin” remarks follow the Associated Press (via ABC News). Zelenskyy’s nightly-address quotes, the $12 billion jet-drone spending figure, the Lindsey Graham Act request, and the U.S.-proposed UAE technical-level talks follow RFE/RL; Washington had not immediately confirmed the UAE venue. Lavrov’s UNGA vow that Russia’s operation will be “carried through to the end” follows UN News. Russian Defense Ministry claims about Kyiv targets are attributed to Moscow and are not independently verified here.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that he wants Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to “settle with” Russian President Vladimir Putin, as officials on both sides reported at least 10 deaths from overnight and Saturday aerial attacks. The Associated Press said Russian attacks killed four people in Ukraine and Ukrainian strikes killed six in Russia and Russian-occupied territory.

In Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia’s regional military administration said two women died when they were trapped under rubble after a Russian strike destroyed their home. Local officials said a separate attack killed two people in Sumy. Officials also reported injuries and damage in the Kyiv region and the capital, including a warehouse fire in Boryspil district and hits on residential and office buildings. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed the Kyiv attack damaged a data center supporting mobile internet and Starlink communications; that claim was not independently verified in Western reporting cited here.

Zelenskyy wrote Saturday that partners must not forget Russia is “escalating every single day,” listing strikes on residential homes in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and the Odesa, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions. “If the Russians have chosen to make their strikes even more brutal, the world must choose stronger responses to keep the war from spreading further,” he said.

Ukraine kept hitting Russian energy and industrial sites with long-range drones. Krasnodar regional Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said a Ukrainian drone attack killed three people and wounded two and sparked fires at two industrial sites. Zelenskyy later said Kyiv had damaged the region’s Ilsky oil refinery. Moscow-installed officials in occupied Zaporizhzhia said Ukrainian attacks killed three people overnight there, Russian state media reported.

Trump commented Saturday on his U.N. General Assembly meeting with Zelenskyy earlier in the week. He said Zelenskyy and Putin were “going along” and that “someday, hopefully in the not-too-distant future, maybe before the heavy winter, they’ll make a deal.” “You know what I want him to do? Make a deal,” Trump said of Zelenskyy. “I want him to settle with Putin, and I want Putin to settle with him.”

In his nightly address, Zelenskyy pushed back on the idea that Moscow is ready to stop. “Obviously, the Russians are not preparing to stop their war, at least for now,” he said, citing intelligence that Russia intends to hike spending on jet-powered drones and other munitions. He claimed Russia plans to spend $12 billion in the coming year on “jet-powered drones and loitering munitions alone.” He also asked Trump on social media to “implement the Lindsey Graham Act against Russia and everyone who props up its war financially” — a law Trump signed about a week earlier that expands U.S. authority to sanction Russia’s energy sector and entities that help Moscow evade restrictions.

Talks track: Zelenskyy told journalists that Washington had proposed a relatively low “technical level” meeting of Ukrainian, Russian, and U.S. officials in the United Arab Emirates — what he described as the first such trilateral session in many months. RFE/RL noted there was no immediate confirmation from the United States. Putin said Friday that settlement proposals remained “on the table” while Moscow weighed its interests, according to Russian agencies.

At the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused European governments of arming Ukraine and obstructing peace talks “many are interested” in, including the Trump administration, and vowed that Moscow’s “special military operation” would be “carried through to the end,” UN News reported.

Uncertainty: Casualty figures come from officials on each side and can shift. The $12 billion drone-spending figure is Zelenskyy’s claim from intelligence reporting, not a confirmed Russian budget line. The UAE talks venue had not been confirmed by Washington at the time of the RFE/RL report. Front-line progress has slowed even as the aerial war intensifies, the AP noted.

What's next: Watch whether Washington confirms UAE technical talks, whether Trump uses the new sanctions authority Zelenskyy requested, oil-refinery damage assessments from Krasnodar, and whether Lavrov’s hard line coincides with any concrete Russian reply on a ceasefire format.

Method note: US Brief digests are AI-assisted from the US Brief desk. We synthesize reputable reporting with cited sources; we do not invent quotes, figures, or forecasts.

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Trump tells Zelenskyy to 'settle with Putin' as new Russia-Ukraine strikes kill 10

Russian attacks killed four people in Ukraine on Saturday and Ukrainian strikes killed six in Russia and occupied territory, officials said, as President Trump pressed Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make a deal with Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy said Moscow is not preparing to stop and asked Trump to use new sanctions authority.

By US Brief desk · Updated 2026-09-26T20:14:00-07:00

AI-assisted digests from the US Brief desk. Synthesizes reputable reporting with cited sources; not a wire service. Corrections welcomed.

Official portrait of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a dark suit and tie

U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that he wants Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to “settle with” Russian President Vladimir Putin, as officials on both sides reported at least 10 deaths from overnight and Saturday aerial attacks. The Associated Press said Russian attacks killed four people in Ukraine and Ukrainian strikes killed six in Russia and Russian-occupied territory.

In Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia’s regional military administration said two women died when they were trapped under rubble after a Russian strike destroyed their home. Local officials said a separate attack killed two people in Sumy. Officials also reported injuries and damage in the Kyiv region and the capital, including a warehouse fire in Boryspil district and hits on residential and office buildings. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed the Kyiv attack damaged a data center supporting mobile internet and Starlink communications; that claim was not independently verified in Western reporting cited here.

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