(MENAFN) Russia unleashed a large-scale overnight aerial assault on Ukrainian infrastructure just as U.S.–Ukraine talks in Florida entered their third day, according to general reports. Ukrainian authorities stated that 653 drones and 51 missiles were launched, the majority intercepted. One strike hit a major railway center in Fastiv, southwest of Kyiv, destroying the central station and damaging trains. Moscow claimed its attacks were aimed at energy sites, port facilities, and military industry.

Condemning the barrage, the French president announced plans to travel to London on Monday for discussions with Ukrainian, British, and German leaders aimed at tightening diplomatic pressure on Moscow. He wrote on social media, "We must continue to put pressure on Russia to force it towards peace." He said he would meet the leaders to review the U.S.-brokered negotiations currently underway.

Before this, American and Ukrainian representatives had urged Moscow to demonstrate a “serious commitment to long-term peace” after recent talks in the Russian capital produced no breakthrough. Russia has intensified its targeting of Ukraine’s power grid and essential services in recent weeks; Ukraine’s energy ministry said facilities across eight regions were struck on Saturday, triggering widespread outages.

President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the Fastiv strike had been "meaningless from a military point of view, and the Russians could not have been unaware of this".

The UN’s nuclear watchdog also confirmed that the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant temporarily lost all external power overnight — the 11th time since the full-scale invasion.

Although the facility no longer generates electricity, it still requires power to cool nuclear material and prevent a meltdown.

In Florida, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff released a statement saying two days of talks with Ukraine’s national security chief Rustem Umerov had been "constructive". According to their joint message, both sides "agreed on the framework of security arrangements" and "discussed necessary deterrence capabilities to sustain a lasting peace", without specifying details. They added that progress depended on Russia taking "steps towards de-escalation and cessation of killing".

The discussions — attended by the U.S. president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — are set to continue into a third day.

Ukrainian negotiators were also briefed on Witkoff’s nearly five-hour meeting with the Russian president earlier in the week. While the Kremlin said "no compromise" was reached on the U.S. peace proposal, it claimed the Russian leader was prepared to keep meeting the American side "as many times as needed". Ukrainian officials and several European governments have questioned Moscow’s sincerity.

Zelensky said on Friday that he wanted "to obtain full information about what was said in Moscow and what other pretexts Putin has come up with to drag out the war". Kyiv has pushed for changes to the initial U.S. proposal, which was criticized as too accommodating to Russia when an early version leaked. The revised draft has not been released publicly.

Major disputes persist, including the issue of post-war security guarantees and any territorial concessions. Russia currently occupies around one-fifth of Ukraine, including large areas of the Donbas. In an interview published Friday, the Russian president warned that Ukrainian forces must fully withdraw from the region this week, saying Russia would otherwise "liberate these [Donbas] territories by force".

Ukraine and several European governments argue that NATO membership — or comprehensive security agreements — is the only reliable way to prevent future Russian aggression. Moscow strongly rejects this, and the U.S. president has repeatedly indicated he has no plans to allow Ukraine to join the alliance.

The Kremlin said this NATO question was a central topic in the Moscow discussions. The U.S. president described the talks as "reasonably good", though he cautioned it was too early to draw conclusions since "it does take two to tango".

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