Trump says will speak to Putin soon as Russia strikes Ukraine's Kharkiv

US President Donald Trump has said that he would speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon, following his earlier call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders.

"I will be, yeah," Trump told a reporter who asked if he planned to talk with the Kremlin leader, while attending a White House dinner with US tech executives.

The remarks came as Russia carried out fresh strikes on Ukraine. In the Kharkiv region, three people were killed on Thursday night when Russian forces attacked the village of Khotymlia with drones, according to regional governor Oleg Synegubov.

"Two men and one woman were killed, and two others were wounded," he said, adding that some victims were road repair workers.

Earlier the same day, two staff members of the Danish Refugee Council were killed in Ukraine’s northern Chernigiv region when a Russian rocket struck an area being cleared of mines.

Local officials said the victims were humanitarian workers, while Russia’s defence ministry denied the claim, insisting it had targeted a long-range drone launch site.

Multinational "reassurance force"