Ukraine war latest: Trump says Putin wants to end war but path to peace ‘unclear’

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov disagreed, asking whether it would be correct to say that Vladimir Putin had rejected the US overtures.

“Yesterday, for the first time, there was a direct exchange of views,” Peskov said. “Some things were accepted, some things were marked as unacceptable. This is a normal working process to find compromises.”

A Kremlin aide said after the meeting that “the agreement has not been reached yet”.

Senior Ukrainian and European officials have accused Russia of not making “any kind of peace” and wasting the world’s time.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Russian President Vladimir Putin “must end the fraud and bloodshed and be prepared to come to the table and support a just and lasting peace”.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha called on the Russian leader to “stop wasting the world’s time.”

He said, “Russia must end the bloodshed it has started. If it does not happen and Putin once again spits in the face of the world, there will be consequences. Russia must stop wasting the world’s time, which should be a time of peace.”

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkana said Putin “has not changed course”, adding: “It is absolutely clear that he does not want any kind of peace.”

Alliance Secretary-General Mark Rutte says more than two-thirds of NATO member states have committed arms to Ukraine through the so-called Priority Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), which has so far received $4 billion (£3 billion) of commitments.

“We have heard from Australia and New Zealand who will also contribute to PURL, the first NATO partners to do so.

“And that means allies and partners have already actually committed more than $4 billion,” Mr. Root said.

Ukraine and its European allies have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of showing little interest in peace efforts after five hours of talks with US envoys in the Kremlin yielded no breakthrough.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Russian leader “must end the infighting and bloodshed and be prepared to come to the table and support a just and lasting peace”.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha urged Putin to “stop wasting the world’s time”.

Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said talks in the Kremlin on Tuesday between Putin and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were positive, but he would not release any details.

It is not possible to survive in cold weather without lights and heat, and as Putin launches a massive drone strike after rejecting the terms of another peace deal, Owen Matthews Report on Putin’s plan to deliver a lethal blow to Ukraine:

A’s father British man arrested in Kyiv and accused of spying Russia Said the news was “difficult to understand”.

Allegations that Ross David Cutmore was recruited by Russia FSB Providing sensitive information to Russian authorities in exchange for security services and money.

According to Ukrainian officials, he transmitted “coordinates of Ukrainian units, photographs of the training area, and information about military personnel, which could be used to identify them”.

US President Donald Trump has said that his aides believe Vladimir Putin is willing to end the war in Ukraine.

“They would like to end the war — that was their perception,” Trump said Wednesday of special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner. “His sentiment was very strong that he would like to do a deal.”

It comes after Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner failed to reach a peace deal with the Russian leader in Moscow.

Turkey’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that recent attacks on tankers linked to Russia within Turkey’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea were “very scary” and hit navigational security and commerce in the region.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who previously discussed the issue during a NATO meeting in Brussels, told Turkish media after their meetings that Black Sea littoral states such as Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria were taking measures to avoid similar incidents.