Ukraine war latest: Trump fails to broker deal after Putin tells Europe ready for war

Emmanuel Macron is visiting China today for a three-day state visit focusing on trade and diplomatic talks.

And while the visit will cover a wide range of issues, the French president is set to try to persuade Beijing to pressure Russia to end its war with Ukraine.

Macron will advocate an agenda of cooperation in economic and trade matters, his office said, aimed at achieving a balance that “ensures sustainable, solid growth that benefits all.”

Macron’s talks with President Xi Jinping will include a discussion of Russia’s war in Ukraine, particularly after a meeting in Paris on Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss possible ceasefire terms.

A French top diplomatic official said, “What we want… is that China can persuade and influence Russia to move towards a ceasefire as soon as possible and to consolidate that ceasefire through negotiations, which, in our view, should provide concrete security guarantees for Ukraine.”

A plane carrying US special envoy Steve Witkoff took off from Moscow early today following talks in the Kremlin on the resolution of the war in Ukraine, Russian news agencies report.

A Bombardier jet that had carried Witkoff the previous day had departed from the capital’s Vnukovo airport, the agencies quoted aviation sources as saying.

Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner held five-hour talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. The TASS news agency said the plane took off at about 2.02am (2302 GMT).

Kremlin ally Yuri Ushakov said Wednesday morning that Russia and the United States have failed to agree on terms on a peace deal in Ukraine after five hours of talks in Moscow.

He said that peace in Ukraine is neither close nor far. He said both sides failed to reach a compromise on one of the most difficult issues – territorial disputes.

Ushakov described the discussions as constructive but acknowledged that differences remain over Ukraine.

The comments came after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Wittkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday he fears the United States may lose interest in Ukraine’s peace process and that Russia aims to bring it about.

“Yes, I’m afraid. If any of our allies get tired, I’m afraid,” Zelensky said at an event in Dublin, when asked if he was worried the US might lose interest in the peace process.

“Russia’s goal is to remove America’s interest from this situation,” he said.

President Vladimir Putin has warned European powers that Moscow is ready to fight if they start a war with Russia and that the European powers’ defeat would be so crushing that there would be no one left to negotiate a peace deal.

Asked by a reporter about comments made in Russian media that Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó had warned that Europe was preparing for war against Russia, Putin said that Russia does not want war with Europe.

“If Europe suddenly wants to start a war with us and starts it, it will end for Europe so quickly that Russia will have no one left to negotiate with,” Putin said, using the Russian word for “war.”

He also suggested that the war in Ukraine was not a total war and that Russia was acting in a “surgical” manner that would not be repeated in a direct confrontation with European powers.

Ukraine’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent comments show that Russia is endangering freedom of navigation in the Black Sea and is not ready to end its war on Ukraine.

“For the second day in a row, Putin has made statements that show he has no plans to end the war,” Andrey Sibiha wrote on X.

“Yesterday he said he was ready to fight in the winter. Today, he is threatening sea ports and freedom of navigation.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Tuesday dismissed fresh concerns about the United States’ commitment to the military organization on the eve of a meeting of allied foreign ministers focused on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was expected to skip Wednesday’s meeting, which will come amid high-level talks in Moscow and Europe over Ukraine’s future.

Speaking to reporters before the meeting, Mr Rutte underlined that Mr Rubio has a busy schedule.

“He is working extremely hard to take care not only of the situation in Ukraine, but of course many other issues are also his priority,” Rutte said. “So I completely accept that he won’t be able to be here tomorrow, and I won’t read anything into it.”

A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the Interior administration’s rationale for the absence, said Rubio has already attended dozens of meetings with NATO allies, “and it would be completely impractical to expect him to be at every meeting.”

“Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau will instead attend and press colleagues to meet their commitment to invest 5% of GDP on defense.

a Russian-flagged tanker A ship reportedly carrying sunflower oil has been attacked off the Turkish coast, although the 13 crew members are safe. turkeyThe Maritime Authority confirmed this on Tuesday.

The ship, Midvolga-2, reported the incident 80 miles (130 km) off the Turkish coast.

It did not request assistance, the Maritime Affairs Directorate said on Friday, instead proceeding towards the Turkish port of Sinop. Broadcaster NTV suggested attack This included a kamikaze drone.

Volodymyr Zelensky is in Dublin, where he has been commenting throughout the day on peace efforts with the US and Russia.

Before the talks ended in the Kremlin, the Ukrainian president said he had some optimism about peace efforts because of the speed of the process and the United States’ interest in finding a solution.

“There was a bit of optimism in my words because of some of the momentum in the talks and their interest in it on the American side.

“This showed that the US is no longer backing away from any kind of diplomatic dialogue and that is good,” Mr Zelensky said at an event during a visit to Dublin.