Vladimir Putin has invited Volodymyr Zelenskyy for peace talks in Moscow again as he attempts to show he is open to ending the conflict while continuing to strike Ukraine. Listen to The World as you scroll.
Friday 5 September 2025 08:51, UK
Ukraine has hit Russia’s Ryazan oil refinery overnight in a drone attack, one of its military commanders says, as it focuses efforts on attacking the country’s energy infrastructure.
Robert Brovdi says an oil depot in the occupied Luhansk region was also hit.
A Russian regional govenor said eight Ukrainian drones had been shot down.
A previous Ukrainian drone attack forced the Ryazan refinery to halt half its capacity in early August, industry sources said at the time.
Recent Ukrainian drone attacks have shut down facilities accounting for at least 17% of Russia’s oil processing capacity, or 1.1 million barrels per day, Reuters news agency has reported.
Our defence analyst Michael Clarke says Kyiv’s strategy targeting Russia’s oil refineries is working.
During his weekly Ukraine live Q&A, Clarke said: “The bottom line is that this is a successful campaign that the Ukrainians are conducting that is affecting the domestic economy.
“Will that directly affect the war? Probably not. Because the Russian military runs on diesel.
“It filters through to the war in the sense that it inconveniences and bothers the Russians and reminds the Russian population that this war has a cost to them as well.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will meet Antonio Costa, the European Council president, and Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico today.
They will discuss Slovakia’s phase-out of Russian oil, with Kyiv keen to propose alternatives.
The Ukrainian leader has also spoken to NATO chief Mark Rutte this morning.
Zelenskyy told him security guarantees for Ukraine need to be worked out quickly, and singled out the importance of strengthening his country’s air defences.
The Ukrainian leader was in Paris yesterday for a summit of the so-called coalition of the willing.
Emmanuel Macron said afterwards 26 European nations were willing to commit troops to a post-war force – adding the US would finalise its support for security guarantees in the coming days.
Vladimir Putin has spoken at length at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok this morning.
He covered topics from Russia’s struggling economy to his invasion of Ukraine and his relationship with Donald Trump.
Here are the key takeaways:
Vladimir Putin says he didn’t speak to Donald Trump after the meeting of Ukraine and its allies in Paris yesterday.
At the talks between the so-called coalition of the willing, the Western nations said they would commit to boots on the ground in Ukraine for post-war security (see 7.11 post for Putin’s response to that).
Putin says he has an “agreement” with Trump that they can call each other “if necessary” – and that the pair have an “open dialogue”.
He adds: “He knows that I am open to these conversations, and he is too, I know about it.
“But so far, based on the results of these consultations in Europe, we have not had any conversations.”
During a summit in Washington with Ukraine and its allies last month, Trump broke off a meeting with them to call Putin.
Vladimir Putin says he disagrees with the opinion of one of Russia’s most senior bankers that a recession may be looming in the country.
Speaking at the same economic forum that Putin is now yesterday, German Gref, the boss of Sberbank, warned that Russia’s economy looked like it was in “technical stagnation”.
Asked if he agrees, Putin says: “No.”
Gref was in the crowd and laughs along with everyone else.
The banker had called for a reduction in interest rates, but Putin says rates need to be kept high to tackle inflation.
Russia’s economy has suffered under sanctions, relying on a small number of trade partners, since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Vladimir Putin asks Volodymyr Zelenskyy to come to Moscow for peace talks, claiming he would provide security for the Ukrainian leader.
Speaking at the economic forum in Vladivostok, the Russian leader has moved on to discuss his war in Ukraine.
Putin says: “The Ukrainian side wants this meeting and offers this meeting. I said: ‘I am ready, please come, we will definitely provide conditions for work and security’.”
This is a “100% guarantee”, he says, adding it is an “excessive request” for him to travel to a neutral, third-party country.
“The best place for a meeting is the capital of the Russian Federation… Moscow,” Putin says.
It’s a suggestion he has made repeatedly since his Alaska summit with Donald Trump three weeks ago, where the US president tried to persuade him to meet Zelenskyy.
Trump has grown frustrated at the lack of progress since then, with Putin trying to portray himself as open to peace while continually pursuing the war.
Continuing to speak at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Vladimir Putin says any foreign troops in Ukraine would be legal targets for strikes.
“If any troops appear there, especially now, during military operations, we proceed from the fact that these will be legitimate targets for their destruction,” Putin says.
It comes after 26 countries that are part of the so-called coalition of the willing said they would commit troops to Ukraine for post-war security yesterday at a meeting in Paris.
The Russian leader says he sees no reason for troops to be deployed to Ukraine if there is peace and claims he would abide by any agreement that ends the war.
Moscow has previously violated peace and security treaties, including the Budapest Memorandum by annexing Crimea and invading Ukraine.
In further remarks at the economic forum in Vladivostok, Vladimir Putin claimed that he had proposals from US companies to work in Alaska.
The Russian leader said a decision would be needed from Washington to resume economic engagement for them to proceed with such work.
It comes after he travelled to the US state to meet with US President Donald Trump last month.
Putin added he was ready for cooperation with foreign companies, including in the Arctic.
During his recent trip to China, the Russian leader discussed further cooperation in the Arctic with China, Putin said.
Vladimir Putin was joined on stage by Mongolia’s prime minister, who said his country was open to buying Russian gas.
Speaking at the economic forum in Vladivostok, Gombojavyn Zandanshatar added that he was willing to start the construction of power for the Siberia 2 gas pipeline – which would run from Russia to China, via Mongolia.
Putin welcomed this announcement, describing it as one of the largest energy projects.
China and India have propped up Russia’s economy by buying up its oil and gas as other countries turned away from it following its invasion of Ukraine.
During Putin’s recent trip to China, he sought to deepen these ties with Beijing.
Vladimir Putin is speaking at an economic forum in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, where he is seeking to strengthen regional ties.
Addressing the meeting, he claims Western companies want to return to Russia after what he describes as political restrictions were lifted.
Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many Western companies have pulled out and its economy has been hit by rounds of successive sanctions targeting its financial, military and energy sectors.
One of Moscow’s most powerful bankers warned that a recession may be looming in the country yesterday.
But Putin uses his speech to talk up the strength of Russia’s economy, as well as the country’s relationship with China, saying Russia and China has “many mutual interests”.
The Russian leader has just returned from a visit to Beijing where he was the guest of honour at Xi Jinping’s military parade and the two leaders signed a memorandum on a big new gas pipeline project.
Putin also says Russia has “good relations” with many countries, including India and Indonesia.
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