Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has asked first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko to lead a new government, setting the stage for a political reshuffle as Ukraine's war with Russia raged on.

Donald Trump has urged Volodymyr Zelensky to make Vladimir Putin "feel the pain" by bombing Moscow and St Petersburg. During a call to the Ukrainian President, Trump reportedly said: "Volodymyr, can you hit Moscow?

The meeting came as speculation mounted over a potential shift in Trump's approach to the ongoing war, which began in 2022.

An announcement by the Ukrainian president that he will seek to replace the prime minister with a loyalist came as the country faces battlefield setbacks and a souring mood.

Putin's army is reportedly just one to two kilometres from Kupyansk, which was liberated in September 2022 by Ukrainian forces during their counteroffensive.

Moscow will agree to a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelensky, only after Kiev's surrender. This was stated in an interview with The Kyiv Independent by the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Serhiy Kyslytsa.

The Ukrainian president explained that he and the head of the Kremlin have different attitudes toward the war.

Donald Trump's stance on the Ukraine war is shifting. After a maternity hospital strike, Trump expressed "frustration" with Putin, vowing "you'll be seeing things happening." Washington has resumed weapons shipments,