Published: 11:04, July 25, 2025 | Updated: 11:43, July 25, 2025
Kremlin: Too early to arrange Russian, Ukrainian leaders' meeting
By Xinhua
A Ukrainian rescuer uses a water hose as they work next to a destroyed car at the site of an aerial attack in Kharkiv on July 24, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (PHOTO / AFP)

KYIV/ MOSCOW - Kyiv is putting the cart before the horse by suggesting holding a meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine before new agreements have been reached, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

"They are trying to put the cart just slightly ahead of the horse. The full scope of work needs to be completed first, and only then can the leaders be given the opportunity to formalize any results achieved," Peskov said.

The complexities of the Ukrainian settlement process make it impossible to achieve "immediate breakthroughs," he said.

The third round of direct Russian-Ukrainian talks took place on Wednesday in Istanbul. Before the plenary meeting, the heads of the delegations, Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky and Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, held a one-on-one conversation.

Medinsky said that a decision on the fourth round of talks will be made after the new agreements are implemented.

Umerov proposed that the two countries' presidents meet along with US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to negotiate an end to the conflict by the end of August.  

A Ukrainian rescuer uses a water hose as they work next to a destroyed car at the site of an aerial attack in Kharkiv on July 24, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (PHOTO / AFP)

Separately, at least 33 people were injured in a Russian aerial strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, on Thursday, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on the social platform Telegram.

Two guided aerial bombs struck the center of the city, hitting an area near a high-rise apartment building and an industrial enterprise, he said.

Three children are among the injured, according to the Interior Ministry.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday on X that the search and rescue operation at the site was still ongoing.

He also emphasized the need to enhance Ukraine's air defense and weapons production in response to the attack.  

Meanwhile, two people were killed and 11 others injured in the most recent Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's Sochi, the Krasnodar Krai operational headquarters said Thursday.

ALSO READ: 3rd round of Russia-Ukraine talks agrees on prisoner exchange, differs on ceasefire

Krasnodar Krai, a Russian federal subject to which Sochi belongs, came under a mass drone attack overnight.

"The wreckage of a downed drone fell in the Adler district of Sochi. At the time of the fall, two women were nearby, both died from injuries. The wreckage of the drone also hit the territory of the oil depot. As a result of the attack, 11 people were injured ...," Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on his Telegram channel.

In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday air defense systems had intercepted 39 Ukrainian drones during five hours of the overnight strikes.

"Starting from 8:40 pm Moscow time (1740 GMT) on July 23 to 1:40 am Moscow time (2240 GMT) on July 24, on-duty air defenses intercepted and destroyed 39 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over Russian regions, seven of them were over the territory of Krasnodar Krai," it said.