by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
KYIV/WARSAW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – The death toll from a Russian airstrike on a humanitarian aid distribution center in southeastern Ukraine has risen to 53, authorities said Friday, but U.S. President Donald J. Trump still raised hopes of a “big, beautiful” peace agreement to end Europe’s deadliest war since World War II.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces initially bombed a school where residents were receiving humanitarian aid before dropping nine additional bombs on a shelter where civilians and rescue workers had taken refuge. Moscow has not publicly commented on the attack.
Rescuers continued searching through the rubble for a fifth day in Komyshuvakha, in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, where acting regional governor Mykhailo Semikin confirmed the rising death toll. Dozens of people remained missing, raising fears that more victims could be buried beneath the debris.
The mounting casualties came as Trump suggested that a far-reaching agreement to end Russia’s war in Ukraine could also reshape Europe’s wider security arrangements following talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, in Washington.
“It’s going to be very big. It’s going to involve more than Ukraine, and I could even say it might involve all of Europe,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “It’s going to be a big, beautiful agreement, and everyone’s going to be thrilled.”
EUROPEAN DIVISIONS
However, Trump’s optimism contrasted with growing diplomatic disagreements among European leaders over who should represent the continent in negotiations with Moscow.
The Kremlin accused European governments Friday of struggling to agree on who should represent them in talks over Ukraine and the continent’s future security architecture.
“As for any ideas from the Europeans, we have not received any. We are not aware of any,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
He acknowledged that European participation would eventually be necessary when discussions turn to mutual security guarantees between Russia and Ukraine and the continent’s future security arrangements.
Yet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticized what she described as an uncoordinated European approach, warning in a letter to European Council President António Costa that multiple negotiating formats were undermining Europe’s credibility.
POLAND WARNS ALLIES
Costa responded that European participation should convey a unified position and defend the continent’s security interests. European Union leaders are expected to discuss the dispute at an informal meeting in Dublin next week.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski supported calls for legitimate European representation, warning against any settlement negotiated without Eastern European and Scandinavian countries.
“The last thing we want is Western Europe dealing with Russia, over the heads of Eastern Europe,” Sikorski told journalists in Warsaw on Thursday.
He stressed that Poland, the Baltic states and Nordic countries face particular security risks because of their proximity to Russia and Ukraine.
Austria’s Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger also expressed concern about the lack of strategic coordination among European governments.
MILITARY EXERCISES
The diplomatic disagreements come as Britain and France prepare to lead military exercises involving approximately 2,800 personnel from 11 countries from November 9 to 22, rehearsing a possible multinational mission to support Ukraine after a ceasefire.
The exercises, centered in Poland with a separate maritime component in Istanbul, Turkey, are intended to test military coordination, logistics and readiness to support Ukraine’s security after the fighting ends.
The preparations come as European Parliament President Roberta Metsola warned during a visit to Warsaw about growing hybrid threats facing Poland and other European countries.
Despite Trump’s expressed optimism, continued Russian strikes and disagreements over security guarantees have raised concerns about the prospects for negotiating an end to the fighting as winter approaches.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
