Diplomacy amid rising attacks

President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly rebuked Donald Trump’s envoys as Russian strikes intensified, tying the diplomacy around Ukraine to the war still unfolding on the ground. (kyivindependent.com) In an April 20 interview, Zelensky said it was “disrespectful” for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to go to Moscow without first visiting Kyiv. The Kyiv Independent reported the two were expected to meet Ukrainian officials as negotiations remained stalled. (kyivindependent.com) At the United Nations on April 20, Ukraine requested an emergency Security Council briefing after what it described as a sharp rise in Russian aerial attacks. UN News said Kyiv reported more than 5,000 drones and missiles launched between late March and mid-April, with dozens killed and hundreds injured. (news.un.org) The immediate trigger for the UN meeting was the April 14 attack on Dnipro and other cities, according to Security Council Report. Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, Liberia and the United Kingdom backed Ukraine’s request for the session. (securitycouncilreport.org) The clash between diplomacy and bombardment has sharpened after more than four years of full-scale war. James Sherr of the International Centre for Defence and Security wrote on April 21 that negotiations have repeatedly run alongside continued fighting rather than replacing it. (icds.ee) Sherr argued that Moscow has treated talks as part of the conflict, not an exit from it, and warned against assuming a ceasefire would settle Russia’s aims. The Center for Strategic and International Studies made a similar point in late 2025, saying Russian war goals had shown little sign of changing. (icds.ee) (csis.org) That concern is tied to military timing. RAND wrote in 2025 that even a partially rebuilt Russian force after the war would still pose a serious threat to NATO and European security, a point analysts now apply to any pause that lets Moscow regroup. (rand.org) The battlefield picture has reinforced that skepticism. The Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces carried out one of the war’s largest recent strike waves on April 15-16, using more than 700 strike vehicles and killing at least 17 civilians. (understandingwar.org) Zelensky’s complaint was also about leverage: who gets visited, who gets heard, and who sets the order of talks. As diplomats shuttle between capitals and the Security Council debates another emergency session, Ukraine is still measuring the process against the attacks landing in places like Dnipro. (kyivindependent.com) (news.un.org)