Russian forces have bombed a key piece of Ukraine energy infrastructure just hours after Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he would halt attacks on the grid.
Slovyansk, a city in the Donetsk region, was targeted according to local reports, leaving part of the city without electricity.
It comes just hours after Putin agreed to temporarily stop attacking Ukrainian energy facilities but declined to support a full 30-day ceasefire.
Washington had hoped that the ceasefire would be the first step toward a permanent peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Slovyansk, a city in the Donetsk region has been heavily bombarded
Reuters/Getty
Ukraine's President Zelensky said Putin had "de facto rejected proposal for complete ceasefire", adding that it would be right for the world to reject any attempts by the Russian leader to drag out the war in response.
Downing Street had welcomed “the progress President Trump has made towards a ceasefire” following his call with Putin.
However, a spokeswoman insisted negotiations must lead to a “just and lasting peace for Ukraine”.
Following the call, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: “We welcome the progress President Trump has made towards a ceasefire and in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. This process must lead to a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS FROM UKRAINE
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
PA
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks with Boris Johnson at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral
PA
A demonstrator holds a banner depicting a playing card with portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin
Reuters
However, following reports of an attack in Ukraine, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "What a surprise - Putin rejects an unconditional ceasefire. He wants to keep bombing and killing innocent Ukrainians.
"He wants Ukraine disarmed. He wants Ukraine neutralised. He wants to make Ukraine a vassal state of Russia. He isn’t negotiating. He’s laughing at us."
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary David Lammy signalled the UK and EU are planning to speed up arms shipments to Ukraine ahead of a full ceasefire. The Foreign Secretary told Bloomberg: “Of course it’s our intention to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position militarily and economically.”
Lammy added: "We want peace to prevail but we get peace through strength and that means putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position to repel any prospects of the war beginning again."
David Lammy meets with the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and former Estonian PM Kaja Kallas
Reutters
Meanwhile, Democrat lawmakers will call on Trump administration to restore a programme that helps track thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, and to use sanctions to punish those responsible for the rights violation.
The Republican President's administration has ended a Government-funded initiative led by Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab that tracked the mass deportation of children from Ukraine, the lawmakers said.
That decision meant researchers have lost access to a trove of information, including satellite imagery and other data, about some 30,000 children taken from Ukraine.
Democratic lawmakers said in a statement: "We have reason to believe that the data from the repository has been permanently deleted. If true, this would have devastating consequences."
