US President Donald Trump has told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to "STOP!" after Moscow pounded Kyiv with missiles and drones, killing at least 12 people.
It was the biggest attack on the Ukrainian capital this year.
President Trump told reporters at the White House that his administration was applying "a lot of pressure" on Russia and reiterated his displeasure with the assault.
However, he said that significant progress has been made in peace negotiations and that Russia has made a "pretty big concession" by being open to "stopping the war, stopping taking the whole country".
"This next few days is going to be very important. Meetings are taking place right now," Mr Trump said.
"I think we're going to make a deal ... I think we're getting very close."
He added that the United States is also pressuring the Ukrainian government.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said - at the same news conference - that further discussions are planned for the weekend, and that his country wants to see both Ukraine and Russia step up to finalise a deal.
The Kyiv attack, which President Trump said was "not necessary" and "very bad timing", wounded 90 people, smashed buildings and set off fires, Ukrainian officials said.
Rescuers were still recovering bodies from the rubble more than 12 hours later.
The attack came at a critical moment in the war in Ukraine, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
Both Kyiv and Moscow are trying to show the US that they are making progress towards his goal of a rapid peace deal.
"I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!" Mr Trump said on Truth Social, addressing the Russian leader.
The White House has threatened to abandon its efforts if no progress is made soon.
Mr Trump criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday over a comment in which he repeated that Kyiv would not recognise Russia's occupation of Crimea.
The US leader has used a markedly more gentle tone in his statements about President Putin than with Mr Zelensky, whom he at one point referred to as a "dictator".
President Trump's special envoy is expected to meet Mr Putin for more talks tomorrow, a US official has said.
Mr Rubio decided at the last minute to skip talks between US, Ukrainian and European officials in London yesterday amid Washington's anger over President Zelensky's comment about Crimea.
Mr Trump said that it would be very difficult for Ukraine to regain Crimea.
The London talks went ahead, albeit in a downgraded format, and Mr Zelensky said he believed a proposal that emerged from the meeting was with President Trump.
Mr Zelensky, who cut short his visit to South Africa after the Russian strike, said he did not see signs that the US was putting strong pressure on Russia.
Asked by a reporter if he thought that President Putin would listen to his appeal to stop missile strikes, Mr Trump said "I do".
He added that he has his "own deadline" for reaching a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine, without saying what it is.
Rescue teams were operating at 13 sites in Kyiv with climbing specialists and sniffer dogs, the emergency services said. Forty fires had broken out.
"Mobile telephones are heard ringing beneath rubble. The search will continue until it becomes clear that they have got everyone," they added.
Watch: Trump tells Putin to 'STOP' after Russian attack on Kyiv
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The Russian Defence Ministry said that it carried out what it described as a massive overnight strike against Ukraine's military-industrial complex using air, land and sea-based long-range high-precision weapons and drones.
Head of the Kyiv city military administration Tymur Tkachenko said that 12 were dead.
Fires had broken out in garages, administrative buildings and falling metal fragments had struck vehicles.
"There was the air raid siren, we did not even have time to dress to go out of the apartment. One blast came after the other, all windows were blown out, doors, walls, my husband and son were thrown to the other side," Kyiv resident Viktoria Bakal said.
President Zelensky said on social media that Russia used a North Korean ballistic missile in the attack, citing preliminary information.
A Ukrainian military source earlier said that a residential building in the Sviatoshynskyi district west of Kyiv's centre was hit by a North Korean KN-23 (KN-23A) ballistic missile.
Watch: Donald Trump says Ukrainian President is 'harder' to negotiate with
Russia launched 145 drones and 70 missiles, including 11 ballistic missiles, in the overnight attack, Ukraine's air force said on social media, adding that air force units shot down 112 targets.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that apart from Kyiv and the surrounding region, seven other regions came under "mass" attack.
Damage was reported in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second biggest, in the Zhytomyr region west of Kyiv and in the industrial city of Pavlohrad, which lies in the central Dnipropetrovsk region.
In Washington, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko said that his country and the US have made progress on a critical minerals agreement but it will "definitely not" be finalised this week.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin condemned the attack on Kyiv and said the targeting of civilians "has to stop".
In a post on X, he said: "It's time for a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine".
I condemn Russia's latest missile and drone strikes on Kyiv that has left nine civilians dead and injured many more.
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) April 24, 2025
The targeting of civilians has to stop. It’s time for a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine.
