Donald Trump has revealed he will hold phone calls with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy next week. It comes after Moscow reportedly demanded five Ukrainian territories in the first direct talks with Kyiv since 2022. Follow the latest below.
Saturday 17 May 2025 22:51, UK
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That’s all for our live coverage this evening, but we’ll be back with more updates soon.
If you’re just checking in, here’s a recap of the key developments over the last 24 hours.
US senators have renewed calls for Congress to pass a bipartisan bill imposing further sanctions on Russia after ceasefire talks showed little progress.
Russia presented conditions that a Ukrainian source described as “non-starters”, including demanding Kyiv hand over five regions of Ukraine, at talks in Turkey yesterday.
Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal and Republican senator Lindsey Graham have urged a vote on a bill they introduced in April that includes a 500% tariff on imports to the US from countries that buy Russian energy.
“Putin will continue stonewalling and slow-walking ceasefire efforts till his economy is hit hard – isolating it on a financial island,” Blumenthal said.
“When it comes to Russia’s games, enough is enough,” Graham said.
The Senate bill now has at least 73 co-sponsors in the 100-member chamber, although leaders have not indicated when it might be brought up for a vote.
A similar measure introduced in the House of Representatives has 28 co-sponsors, also from both parties.
In Kharkiv, National Guard servicemen have been attending a training exercise.
Photographs show soldiers of the 13th Operative Purpose Brigade ‘Khartiia’ taking part.
Rock star Bono appeared alongside Ukrainian soldiers on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival last night.
The U2 frontman said Hollywood star Sean Penn had “brought us some friends from the actual trenches, from the frontline in Ukraine”, reported AFP.
“I just want to thank you because you’re keeping us free.
“Slava Ukraini – glory to Ukraine.”
Bono told the audience the world is threatened by fascism as it was when the Cannes festival was set up in 1939.
Ukrainska Pravda reported that among those soldiers in attendance were:
Europe is a long way from talking about deploying troops in Ukraine, says German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“There is no reason to talk about [troops] at the moment, we are far from that,” says Merz.
“We want the weapons to stop, the killing to end … these are the questions we are dedicated to now, and no others,” he adds.
“The next step must be that the format for peace talks is made clear, as well as which security guarantees could possibly, one day, be necessary for Ukraine.”
Meloni says Italy is open to joining any international format aimed at ending the war, but warned against divisions within the West.
“Western unity has been our greatest strength since the beginning of Russia’s invasion.
“At a delicate time like this, it is important to set aside any personal [differences] that could undermine that unity.”
Back on the ground, Russian forces have made “increased tactical gains” in the Donetsk region over the last month, according to British military intelligence.
The UK Ministry of Defence says Russia is carrying out attacks in Chasiv Yar, Toretsk and to the east of Pokrovsk.
Its forces have advanced 5km southwest of the industrial city of Kostyantynivka and have likely severed the highway which connects it to Pokrovsk, the ministry says.
Russia will “likely seek to advance further on this axis in the coming weeks”.
But the Institute for the Study of War says Russian command will have to choose between Kostyantynivka and Pokrovsk due to “constraints in Russia’s manpower and materiel reserves”.
“Russian forces have thus far struggled to break out of Chasiv Yar and Toretsk, which has likely complicated Russia’s plans for an offensive against Kostyantynivka and the wider Ukrainian fortress belt.
“The recent intensification in Russian activity northeast, east, and south of Pokrovsk suggests that Russian forces may assess that Ukrainian positions in Pokrovsk are becoming increasingly vulnerable.”
America’s top diplomat says the Vatican could be a venue for Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio said he would discuss with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi ways the Vatican could help negotiations.
Asked if the Vatican could be a peace broker, Rubio replied: “I wouldn’t call it broker, but it’s certainly – I think it’s a place that both sides would be comfortable going.
“So we’ll talk about all of that and obviously always grateful to the Vatican for their willingness to play this constructive and positive role.”
The Vatican has a tradition of diplomatic neutrality and long offered its services and venues to facilitate talks.
Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, has vowed to personally make “every effort” to help end the war.
“The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face to face, to talk to one another, so that peoples everywhere may once more find hope and recover the dignity they deserve, the dignity of peace,” he said.
During their meeting at the US embassy in Rome, Rubio thanked Zuppi for the Vatican’s humanitarian role, citing in particular prisoner swaps and the return of Ukrainian children.
Vatican diplomacy
Perhaps the Holy See’s most critical diplomatic initiative came during the peak of the Cuban missile crisis when, in the fall of 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev ordered a secret deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba that were soon detected by U.S. spy planes.
As the Kennedy administration considered its response, and with the threat of nuclear war looming, Pope John XXIII pleaded for peace in a public radio address, in a speech to Vatican ambassadors and also wrote privately to Kennedy and Khruschev, appealing to their love of their people to stand down.
Some historians have credited John XXIII’s appeals with helping both sides step back from the brink of nuclear war.
Vladimir Putin will not compromise in peace negotiations unless Ukraine and the West inflict significant battlefield and economic losses on Russia, a leading think tank has said following Ukraine-Russian talks yesterday.
The Institute for the Study if War said the Russian leader articulated his plan for victory in June last year, when he laid out how Russia could win a war of attrition with “gradual, creeping advances” while preventing Ukraine from conducting counteroffensive operations.
He assumes Russia’s war effort will outlast Western support for Ukraine, the ISW said.
“Western – especially US – military aid and economic sanctions are necessary to enable Ukraine to inflict significant battlefield losses on Russia and force Putin to either change his theory of victory or make an economically painful and unpopular decision to implement another partial involuntary reserve call-up,” the think tank said.
Despite Russian negotiators’ threats of a long war during talks, there are pressures on the Russian president at home that undermine the war effort.
“Putin is likely prioritising dividing Ukraine’s Western allies and weakening Western support to Ukraine in order to secure his desired end state in negotiations, rather than effectively addressing Russia’s domestic problems,” the ISW said.
It outlined how Russia faces materiel, defence industrial, manpower, and economic issues that threaten Russia’s ability to continue the war.
“Putin’s decision to intensify offensive operations throughout Ukraine in March and April 2025 is only exacerbating these issues and underscores his commitment to pressuring Ukraine in negotiations.”
The Kremlin has confirmed a phone call will take place between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
“A conversation is being prepared,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, according to Russian news agencies.
Trump posted on Truth Social earlier today that he would speak with Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy separately on Monday.
Away from prisoner swaps and peace talks, Ukrainian soldiers continue to defend their country.
Pictures taken in the Dnipropetrovsk region show some of those service members preparing to take up positions on the frontline.
Ivan, 34, and Valerie, 48, were shown by Reuters photographers on the ground cleaning Kalashnikov assault rifles – stopping briefly to pet a cat.
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