Firefighters put out the fire after Russian drones hit a city kindergarten during an air attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday the Trump administration is getting ready to announce increased sanctions on Russia as U.S.-led efforts to end the war flounder and Ukraine’s president seeks more foreign military help.

“We are going to announce either after the close this afternoon or first thing tomorrow morning a substantial pickup in Russia sanctions,” Bessent told reporters at the White House. Bessent made his comments as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was in Washington for talks, and was preparing to meet President Donald Trump at the White House.

Bessent did not provide details on the nature of the sanctions. He spoke after Russian drones and missiles blasted sites across Ukraine, killing at least six people, including a woman and her two young daughters. The attack came in waves throughout the night and targeted at least eight Ukrainian cities, as well as a village in the region of the capital, Kyiv, where a strike set fire to a house in which the mother and her 6-month-old and 12-year-old daughters were staying, regional head Mykola Kalashnyk said.

At least 29 people, including five children, were wounded in Kyiv, which appeared to be the main target, authorities said.

Russian drones also hit a kindergarten in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, later Wednesday when children were in the building, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. One person was killed and six were hurt, but no children were physically harmed, he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said many of the children were in shock. He said the attack targeted 10 separate regions: Kyiv, Odesa, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy and Sumy.

Russia fired 405 strike and decoy drones and 28 missiles, mainly targeting Kyiv, Ukraine’s air force said.

Peace efforts stall

Trump’s efforts to end the war that started with Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor more than three years ago have failed to gain traction. Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to budge from his conditions for a settlement after Ukraine offered a ceasefire and direct peace talks.

Trump said Tuesday that his plan for a swift meeting with Putin was on hold because he didn’t want it to be a “waste of time.” European leaders accused Putin of stalling.

Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Trump’s proposal to freeze the conflict where it stands on the front line “was a good compromise” — a step that could pave the way for negotiations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the planned summit requires careful preparation, suggesting that laying the groundwork could be protracted. “No one wants to waste time: neither President Trump nor President Putin,” he said.

In what appeared to be a public reminder of Russian atomic arsenals, Putin on Wednesday directed drills of the country’s strategic nuclear forces.

Zelenskyy urged the European Union, the United States and the Group of Seven industrialized nations to force Russia to the negotiating table. Pressure can be applied on Moscow “only through sanctions, long-range (missile) capabilities and coordinated diplomacy among all our partners,” he said.

Zelenskyy credited Trump’s remarks that he was considering supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for Putin’s willingness to meet. The American president later said he was wary of tapping into the U.S. supply of Tomahawks over concerns about available stocks.

Russia has not made significant progress on the battlefield, where a war of attrition has taken a high toll on Russian infantry and Ukraine is short of manpower, military analysts say. Both sides have invested in long-range strike capabilities to hit rear areas.