Zelenskyy continues European diplomacy as Russian troops advance in Myrnohrad

Ukraine's European allies put on a show of support for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as they expressed skepticism about parts of the U.S. proposal to end Russia's nearly four-year military campaign.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that its forces have captured the village of Ostapivske in Ukraine's eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Zelenskyy first held a meeting in London with the leaders of the UK, France and Germany before heading to Brussels for talks with the heads of the EU and of NATO. Afterwards, he was to fly to Rome for a meeting with the Italian prime minister.

Following a meeting with the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Zelenskyy said at a press conference that Ukrainian territory was one of the main sticking points in negotiations.

Russian troops advance in Myrnohrad

Amid Russian reports of its capture of Ostapivske, its top general, Valery Gerasimov, said that Moscow's forces were advancing along the entire frontline in Ukraine, targeting Ukrainian troops in the town of Myrnohrad.

In a command post meeting with officers of the Center Grouping which is fighting in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, Gerasimov said President Vladimir Putin had ordered the defeat of Ukrainian forces in Myrnohrad, a town with a pre-war population of some 46,000 people to the east of Pokrovsk.

Russia had taken control of more than 30 percent of Myrnohrad's buildings, Gerasimov said.

Ukraine has repeatedly denied that Pokrovsk has fallen and says its forces still hold part of the city and are fighting back in Myrnohrad.

Russia currently controls 19.2 percent of Ukraine, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, Luhansk, more than 80 percent of Donetsk, about 75 percent of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, and slivers of the Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

Ukraine says it is holding its defensive lines and forcing Russia to pay a high price for what it says are relatively modest gains.

Threat of drone attacks

Russia's defense ministry said air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 121 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Several regions in southern and western Russia issued warnings about possible drone attacks, and four southern airports suspended operations over safety concerns.

Temporary restrictions at the airports in Vladikavkaz, Grozny and Magas affected arriving and departing flights, Russian air transport agency Rosaviatsia said.

Another southern town, Mozdok, home to a military airfield, also closed its airspace, North Ossetia Governor Sergei Menyailo posted in his channel on the Telegram messaging platform.

The leaders of three Russian regions - Voronezh, North Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria - said they faced threats of drone attacks.

Residents should take cover inside and stay away from windows, Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev said. They might also experience slower phone and internet connections, the regional officials added.

Meanwhile, Russian drones attacked the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy in the second major strike on the city in 24 hours, triggering a power outage, the regional governor said.

"In the space of half an hour, the Russians launched more than 10 drone strikes on the city," Governor Oleh Hryhorov wrote on Telegram. "There is no electricity in Sumy. Some critical infrastructure is operating on reserve power sources."

Hryhorov said officials were checking for casualties and that power would be restored as soon as it was safe for crews to do so.

Question of Ukrainian territory

At a London news conference Ukrainian President Zelenskyy stated: "Russia is insisting that we give up territories, but we don't want to cede anything." He added that Kyiv had no legal or moral obligation to give up its land.

"The key is to know what our partners will be ready to do in the event of new aggression by Russia. At the moment, we have not received any answer to this question."

France's Macron wrote on X that "we are preparing robust security guarantees and measures for Ukraine's reconstruction."

Macron said the "main issue" was finding "convergence" between the European and Ukrainian position and that of the United States.

And the UK PM Keir Starmer said he would not be pushing Zelenskyy to accept the deal spearheaded by the U.S. administration - the initial version of which was criticized by Ukraine's allies as overly favorable to Russia.

'A good and productive meeting'

Hours later, in Brussels, Zelenskyy said on X he had "a good and productive meeting" with NATO chief Mark Rutte, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Rutte also called it a "good" discussion and reiterated the support for a "just and lasting peace for Ukraine," while von der Leyen, also on X, said the EU was "ironclad" in its backing for Kyiv.

Washington's initial plan to bring an end to the conflict involved Ukraine surrendering land that Russia has not captured in return for security promises that fall short of Kyiv's aspirations to join NATO.

The nature of the security guarantees that Ukraine could get to fend off any future Russian invasion has so far been shrouded in uncertainty, beyond an initial suggestion that jets to defend Kyiv could be based in Poland.

Earlier, a senior official close to the talks told journalists that the question of Ukrainian territory was the "most problematic" in the negotiations.

The issue of security guarantees for Kyiv have also been among the main sticking points of the talks. Zelenskyy said that Washington's 28-point plan had been reduced to 20 points after U.S.-Ukraine talks at the weekend.

Ukrainian and European officials "are going to work on these 20 points", Zelenskyy told an online press conference, adding that counter-proposals could be ready by Tuesday evening to be sent to Washington.

Last week, the European Commission put forward twin proposals of borrowing and using immobilized Russian central bank assets to help cover Ukraine's financing needs for 2026-2027. Belgium, however, criticized the EU proposal to use frozen Russian assets.

Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, also said just last month that providing more aid to Ukraine would not help end the war with Russia and could "fuel further corruption," referring to a graft scandal that has rocked the government in Kyiv.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said that European claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to restore the Soviet Union were wrong and also the claims that Russia plans to invade a NATO member were absolute rubbish.