Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has set a target of launching as many as 1,000 long-range drones against Russia each day, more than three times the current level, as Kyiv expands its campaign against targets deep inside Russian territory.

Zelensky announced the target after a meeting of Ukraine's supreme military command on Friday, saying the current level was about 300 long-range drone launches a day and that substantially more were needed.

“There should be more; there is a specific target, and we will accomplish this task,” Zelensky said in his evening address.

The target would require Ukraine to expand production of long-range unmanned aircraft substantially. Ukrainian media reported that the task was directed at the country's defence-industrial sector so that its armed forces could eventually sustain launches of up to 1,000 drones a day.

Ukraine has increasingly relied on domestically produced long-range drones to strike military and energy infrastructure inside Russia, seeking to disrupt Moscow's ability to sustain its invasion.

The planned increase comes as both countries intensify attacks on infrastructure far from the front line. Russia has continued large-scale missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, energy facilities, ports and logistics sites, while Ukrainian drones have repeatedly targeted Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure.

The military escalation is unfolding alongside tentative diplomatic activity.

Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's presidential office and one of Kyiv's representatives in negotiations, said on Friday that “technical talks” concerning the war were likely in the near future but cautioned against expectations of a rapid agreement.

“I think everyone will see the negotiations happening very soon,” Budanov said. “But this will mainly concern the technical side of things and preparations for something big, which I hope we will eventually get to.”

Budanov had said a day earlier that Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams could meet in September and that Kyiv wanted US representatives involved.

The last trilateral talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States took place in February. Ukrainian and Russian representatives have since held separate discussions with the American side.

The central territorial dispute remains unresolved. Russia is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from areas of the eastern Donbas that Moscow claims but has not fully occupied. Kyiv says it will not surrender territory still under Ukrainian control.

Budanov said he did not expect the fighting to end quickly and described an immediate halt to the war as unrealistic. Asked whether combat would continue through the winter, he said he feared it would.

Diplomatic attention has also focused on a rare visit to Moscow by CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

The Kremlin confirmed that Ratcliffe held talks with Russian intelligence officials, although President Vladimir Putin did not meet him. US President Donald Trump described the trip as “semi-routine” and played down reports that its primary purpose was to warn Moscow against attacking a NATO member.

Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the discussions, that Ratcliffe did raise concerns about possible Russian operations against NATO, while other subjects included Moscow's support for Iran.

Zelensky said on Friday that Washington had subsequently provided Kyiv with information about several meetings held in Moscow.

“We received information today from the American side about the meetings that took place in Moscow these days,” he said, without identifying those involved. He thanked Washington for the information and what he described as the appropriate tone in its discussions with Russia.

Despite the renewed diplomatic contacts, there has been no agreement on ending a war now in its fifth year. Budanov said meaningful progress would require both Moscow and Kyiv to be prepared to move towards each other, adding that Ukraine was ready to do so but that Russia was not yet prepared to take that step.