Russia Kills at Least 11 in Kyiv Missile and Drone Barrage as NATO Summit Diplomacy Approaches

Since Trump's July 4 weekend calls with both Putin and Zelenskyy — and Ukraine's retaliatory strikes on St. Petersburg and Crimea covered in earlier reporting — the war has not paused. Russian missiles and drones hammered Ukraine's capital in the early hours of Monday, killing at least 11 people and heavily damaging residential high-rise buildings, according to CNBC. That is Russia's second large-scale attack on the Ukrainian capital in less than a week.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov described Trump's 90-minute call with Putin as "businesslike and very constructive," according to Russian state outlet RIA Novosti. Ushakov said Trump emphasized the need to "end the Ukrainian conflict as soon as possible" and pointed to "enormous prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation."

The missile barrage on Kyiv came within days of that conversation. The gap between Moscow's diplomatic language and its military actions has become a measurable pattern.

On the Ukrainian side, strikes against Russian fuel infrastructure have continued through the past week. Ukrainian forces hit a major oil terminal in St. Petersburg and the Kronstadt Naval Base, the main base of Russia's Baltic Fleet, on Friday and Saturday, according to CNBC. Both sites reported fires. Additional Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure were reported in the same period.

Putin recently acknowledged for the first time the impact of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian fuel production, according to CNBC. This marks the first public admission despite months of strikes.

The simultaneous push for diplomacy and escalation in battlefield operations has put investors on notice, according to CNBC. The market's calculation involves three variables moving at once: the possibility of a negotiated end to the war, the risk that strikes on Russian oil infrastructure tighten energy markets, and the question of whether Europe's defense spending commitments will hold.

None of those variables has resolved. European defense stocks and energy prices have both responded to the Ukraine conflict's trajectory, and a ceasefire — or its collapse — would reprice both sectors rapidly.

Heads of state from all 32 NATO member countries are expected in Ankara for a two-day conference scheduled to open Tuesday. Trump is scheduled to meet separately with Zelenskyy and with Syria's Ahmed al-Sharaa during the summit, according to AP News.

Zelenskyy said on Saturday that he agreed with Trump to continue talks at Ankara. "There is a real prospect to put an end to this war, and America's resolve is decisive," Zelenskyy posted on social media, according to CNBC.

A White House spokesperson did not respond to CNBC's request for comment on the substance of Trump's call with Putin as of Monday.

Critics of Trump's diplomatic approach — including some NATO allies and Ukraine hawks in Congress — argue that framing the war as nearing resolution while Russia continues mass-casualty strikes on civilian areas gives Moscow time it is using to kill people, not negotiate. Their concern is that pressure on Zelenskyy to accept terms at Ankara could lock in Russian territorial gains made by force.

The counter-position, which Trump and his team have advanced, is that direct presidential engagement with both sides is a prerequisite for any outcome short of indefinite war. Whether Ankara produces anything concrete beyond a framework for continued talks is genuinely unknown as of July 6.

Trump signaled renewed support for Kyiv after signing an interim deal with Iran, according to CNBC, but no specific commitment has been announced publicly. That ambiguity shapes how much negotiating strength Zelenskyy actually walks into Ankara with.