Russia hit Kyiv with a new missile attack on Wednesday night, hours after saying it was "ready in principle" to resume peace talks, and Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said six people were injured and several houses were hit.

It came during a new diplomatic push led by two US envoys, and it landed on the same day that President Donald Trump described the world as "the closest we've been" to ending the war, according to the BBC's report on the night.

What was hit in Kyiv

Klitschko's account gives the concrete details: several houses struck on Wednesday night, six people injured. That is the mayor's figure. The BBC report does not attribute a casualty or damage count to Ukraine's national government, and no Russian defence ministry statement appears in it.

It also notes that Russia has intensified deadly missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in recent weeks. The night's strike therefore fits a pattern rather than breaking one, though the report does not give a count of attacks behind that statement.

The talks signal that came hours earlier

Russia said it was "ready in principle" to resume peace talks. Trump, speaking on Wednesday, put the diplomatic mood in stronger terms: "The other day I was talking to Vladimir Putin about settling his war with Ukraine, which I think we're getting closer to, by the way, maybe now the closest we've been."

Trump has repeatedly said he would end the war and has not done so, the BBC notes. That history is part of why the day's optimism needs reading with care.

Who was in the room

Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, met Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday for talks that lasted about three hours. He had met Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, along with the leaders of Norway and Finland, in Oslo the previous day.

What Witkoff actually proposed is not public. The BBC says it is not clear what specific proposals he brought to Putin. Zelensky said after the Oslo talks that "strong" security guarantees for Ukraine and energy ceasefire proposals had been discussed.

Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov gave the Russian read, telling reporters the ideas were not very "useful" and suggesting a new round could be held around 10 November in Abu Dhabi. Ushakov said the talks should focus on "building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the end of the conflict." He also said Putin had told Witkoff that Russian troops were advancing along the front and held the "strategic initiative." Ukraine and its European allies reject that claim and describe the front as close to a stalemate.

What Ukraine says it would accept

Zelensky told Fox News on Wednesday that he would accept a deal freezing the war along the current front line. "We call it 'ceasefire' or 'stop killings' like President Trump called it. Freeze and stop. And of course this is minimum what we need from Russia today," he said, adding that security guarantees could be discussed afterwards.

Witkoff called the St Petersburg talks "constructive." Jared Kushner, participating by video link, said: "There is still hard work ahead, but we have a real opportunity to move beyond this war and build a framework for lasting peace, security, and prosperity for generations to come."

Why the two developments sit strangely together

Three-way talks were paused in February. After that, Russia stepped up its attacks while Ukraine ran low on Western-supplied interceptors for air defence. A strike on the capital hours after a Russian statement about being ready to talk fits that period better than it fits a breakthrough.

Nothing in the BBC report ties the attack to the negotiations. No official quoted there says the strike was meant to pressure the talks, and no one says it was unrelated. That link remains an open question, which is different from a finding.

The other piece of the day

Before the Putin meeting, Russia released Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American who had been sentenced to nearly seven years in jail for allegedly fighting for Ukraine. Trump said Hubbard was "on his way back home" and that "there was no 'swap' necessary." Witkoff called Putin a "humanitarian" for agreeing to the release. Vice-President JD Vance, asked about that description, said he agreed with "saying something nice to a person who just released an American hostage."

What happens next

One date is now on the record: the round Ushakov floated for around 10 November in Abu Dhabi. He stressed it as a suggestion, not a confirmed meeting, and the location came from him rather than from a joint statement.

For readers following the war, the practical question is narrower than whether peace is close. It is whether the talks resume on that timetable, and whether the attacks on Ukrainian cities continue at the pace of recent weeks while they do. Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory, according to the BBC. No proposal described in the report would change that before a deal is signed.