European leaders are reportedly weighing on creation of a 40km buffer zone between the Russian and Ukrainian frontlines as part of a peace deal.

The proposal is among several that military and civilian officials are considering for either a postwar or ceasefire scenario in Ukraine, the Politico reported, citing five European diplomats.

"They’re grasping for straws,” Jim Townsend, a former Pentagon official who oversaw Europe and Nato policy under Barack Obama administration, told the website.

“The Russians are not afraid of the Europeans. And if they think that a couple of British and French observers are going to deter them from marching into Ukraine, then they’re wrong.”

Donald Trump's peace efforts appear to be failing after Vladimir Putin's forces launched the second-largest attack on the Ukrainian capital, killing 23 people, just days after both leaders met in Alaska.

Recent US presidents have shied away from taking a tougher line with Russian president Vladimir Putin for fear of a potential nuclear conflict, a Washington think tank has said.

"Putin knows that Washington and its allies have more than enough capacity to reverse his gains in Ukraine, but it is nearly certain that he doubts the United States has the will to do so," the Atlantic Council said in an assessment this week.

It added that "the second Trump administration has repeatedly signaled that the United States has no vital interests at stake in this war”.

Less than two weeks after Donald Trump promised an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine, Russia pounded Kyiv with the second-worst aerial assault of the war so far on Thursday, killing at least 23 people and injuring 48.

Residents of the Ukrainian capital, which lies hundreds of miles from the front line, have been forced to adapt to a constant cycle of devastating missile and drone strikes since the beginning of the war in February 2022. The sound of air raid sirens and the retreat to bomb shelters have become a daily reality.

“Russia is pressuring Ukraine through psychological methods and intimidation. This is a strategy to exhaust our moral and instil psychological terror,” Liliya Sky, a PhD student from Kyiv, told The Independent.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated Moscow's long-held position that Russian president Vladimir Putin "doesn't rule out" meeting his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, but only after progress was made "at the expert level".

A summit "must be well prepared so that it can finalize the work that must first be carried out at the expert level," Peskov told reporters during his daily conference call yesterday."

At this point we can't say that the expert work is in full swing, so to speak. No, unfortunately, not. We maintain our interest and our readiness for these negotiations."

At least one person has been killed and 22 others, including three children, have been injured in massive Russian missile and drone attacks overnight, local officials said.

Russia launched a missile and drone attack targeting various Ukrainian regions overnight, with explosions heard in several cities like Zaporizhzhia, Pavlohrad, Dnipro, Chernihiv and Lutsk, officials said.

In Zaporizhzhia, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said Russian missile and drone strikes damaged 40 homes, 14 apartment buildings, and an unspecified number of industrial facilities.

At least eight people have been hospitalised in the attack, including a 10-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, Fedorov said.

Additionally, Ukraine's Air Force confirmed that multiple Russian cruise and ballistic missiles were fired on Ukraine's front line regions.

Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv that he expected "several meetings at different venues" with European leaders next week.

Ukrainian negotiators have been trying to move the peace process forward in talks in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland and the United States, he said.

Ukraine has accepted a US proposal for a ceasefire and a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Zelensky, but Moscow has raised objections.

The proposed meetings appeared designed to add momentum to the push for peace, as Zelensky expressed frustration with what he called Russia's lack of constructive engagement in the process while it continues to launch devastating aerial attacks on civilian areas.

Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential office, met on Friday in New York with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss preparations for upcoming meetings.

"The key priority is to push forward real diplomacy and ensure the implementation of all the agreements reached at the Washington summit," Yermak said in a social media post.

"We are coordinating our efforts."Yermak said he had briefed Witkoff on Russia's latest attacks on Ukraine and lamented that Putin had shown no willingness to engage in peace efforts despite his meeting with Trump in Alaska this month.

"Unfortunately, Russia is failing to fulfill anything necessary to end the war and is clearly dragging out the hostilities," Yermak wrote in a lengthy post on X.

"Ukraine supports President Trump's firm resolve, as well as that of all partners, to achieve a lasting peace as soon as possible. Ukraine welcomes all peace initiatives put forward by the United States. But unfortunately, each of them is being stalled by Russia."

Of the meeting, a White House official said only that Yermak and Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine's ambassador extraordinary, gave Witkoff a status update on the war and Russia's strikes on Kyiv this week.

The official was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday that a Russia-U.S. contact to discuss "mutual irritants" in bilateral relations may take place in the coming weeks, the TASS news agency reported.

He also said that European countries were trying to sabotage agreements reached by Russia and the United States at the Alaska summit, but Moscow expected Washington to continue its efforts.

"We proceed from the fact that there will be no deviations from these understandings (reached in Alaska). We expect that this is how the situation will ultimately be perceived in Kyiv and in the European capitals, where there is outright sabotage," TASS quoted Ryabkov as saying.

If Russian president Vladimir Putin doesn't commit by Monday to meet Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, he would have duped US president Donald Trump, French president Emmanuel Macron said.

"If that doesn't happen by Monday, the deadline set by president Trump, it means that once again president Putin played President Trump," Macron said at a joint news conference with German chancellor Friedrich Merz yesterday.

Trump has threatened "consequences" if the Russian and Ukrainian leaders don't meet.

Zelensky also recalled on Friday a statement by Trump that he would give Putin a week or two to agree on a bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian leader before potentially announcing new action against Russia.

"Two weeks will be on Monday. And we will remind everybody," Zelensky said.