A Russian attack killed at least 19 people including nine children in the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Friday, local officials said, but Russia's Defence Ministry said it targeted a military gathering there.

The attacks were among the deadliest on Kryvyi Rih since the start of the war in 2022 and come as U.S. President Trump pushes for a ceasefire.

Britain and France are accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet over Ukraine ceasefire talks and ramped up pressure on Moscow by insisting that he owes the United States an immediate answer.

A Russian drone attack Thursday on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, killed five civilians and dramatized the diplomatic insistence on a ceasefire.

The United Kingdom and France on Friday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in ceasefire talks aimed at halting his forces' invasion of Ukraine and demanded a swift response from Moscow after weeks of United States efforts to secure a truce.