Volodymyr Zelenskyy is heading to Saudi Arabia for peace talks between his team and US officials this week. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has suggested Ukraine “may not survive” the war against Russia even if American support continues.
Monday 10 March 2025 09:53, UK
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The expulsion of British diplomats this morning reflects how the UK can now be considered “public enemy number one” in Russia, Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett says.
After the recent rapprochement between the US and Russia, Britain is now one of Russia’s most prominent opponents on the global stage.
Under Donald Trump, the US has warmed considerably to Moscow. At times, he has even echoed the Kremlin’s criticisms of Ukraine.
The expulsions today reflects the UK’s newfound position, Bennett says, and takes place within the wider context of a back-and-forth between Russia and Britain.
Bennett says: “It’s important to say this is not the first time British diplomats have been expelled from Russia. This is the third kind of expulsion we’ve seen in the last six months.
“It’s part of the wider ongoing exchange of expulsions that have been going on between Moscow and London for some years now.
“It comes after last week’s conviction in Britain of three Bulgarian nationals of spying for Russia, so we can see this as a response to that.”
He says the whole incident was “designed to create a spectacle”.
“It serves a purpose. That purpose is to cast Britain, and Europe more generally, as the enemy here out to attack Russia,” he added.
Read more on the Bulgarian spies here
Differing reports over possible US-Russia talks
Asked about the talks in Saudi Arabia this week and who was going for Russia, he says Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has disputed reports in the US media that more talks are set to go ahead between Washington and Moscow.
“Safe to say I think Russia couldn’t be happier with the way things have been going in the last few weeks. Without doing anything at all, Russia appears to have got what they want,” he adds.
Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, has called on “friends” to respect their allies a day after an extraordinary spat between one of his most senior ministers and the US and Elon Musk over Starlink technology.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio accused Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski of “making things up” after he said Ukraine may need to find an alternative to Musk’s Starlink satellite service.
He also claimed Poland was not grateful enough – echoing a previous Trump criticism of Ukraine.
But today, without naming anyone, Tusk alluded to the row.
Sikorski reshared the post.
It came after Rubio claimed Ukraine would have “lost this war long ago” and Russia would have been at Poland’s border without Starlink.
Musk waded into the row, labelling Sikorski a “small man”.
The US has already frozen intelligence sharing with Ukraine – something we touched on earlier.
However, amid speculation Starlink might be replaced, shares in Franco-British satellite operator Eutelsat soared as much as 650% last week.
For context: Musk, a high-profile figure in the Trump administration, has mostly focused his attention domestically.
But on Sunday, he claimed Ukraine’s “entire front line would collapse if I turned it [Starlink] off”.
He later said he would “never turn off [Starlink’s] terminals”.
Starlink is a network of satellites that help bring vitally needed coverage to often more remote areas – including the war-hit Ukrainian frontline.
It was in response to Musk’s tweets that the Polish foreign minister made his comments – triggering the ire of Rubio.
The US pause on intelligence sharing with Ukraine has already cost lives, according to a former UK ambassador to Washington.
Sir Peter Westmacott told Wilfred Frost on the Breakfast Show that “quite a lot of people have lost their lives in Ukraine” because Kyiv’s defensive capabilities were hindered by the freeze.
The decision to halt sharing intelligence has left Ukraine’s air defences “less good than they were and more people have died in the last few days”, he said.
He added: “The air defence intelligence was very important in shooting down and stopping Russian attacks. Those people have already paid a price.”
We reported earlier in our 7.09am post that Donald Trump floated some good news around the intelligence pause potentially coming to an end.
Watch Westmacott’s interview on Ukraine, Trump and more below
Saudi Arabia and Turkey’s roles in the war in Ukraine
Westmacott also described Saudi Arabia as a “major player in the region” as it hosted mediation talks between the US and Ukraine this week.
Along with that, he said Turkey could potentially play an important role in any peacekeeping forces in Ukraine.
“Turkey is the second largest army in NATO, after the US, it’s almost next door, it has very good relations with Ukraine and Russia, I think if they were asked to, the Turks would be happy to play a role,” he told Sky News.
“After all, we haven’t got huge numbers of troops elsewhere in NATO to do this job,” he added.
Ukrainian MP Yulia Sirko-Klymenko has told Sky News what she hopes her country can get out of this week’s peace talks, as well as her fears of waning US support.
Despite Donald Trump so far refusing any security guarantees, Sirko-Klymenko said she was expecting the two sides to discuss them this week.
“Russia will not disappear tomorrow from our borders. We have to understand if it will be a ceasefire for a few months or for years and how we will live for that and what security guarantees we’ll have to protect Ukraine and to fight back if Russia decides to invade again,” she told Wilfred Frost on Sky News’ Breakfast.
She also described the “fear” Ukrainians had over the meetings, describing her country as “the frontline for Europe”.
Asked about the US intelligence pause, she outlined her hopes that Washington would commence sharing again, describing it as “the most painful part”.
She said: “We can survive without US weapons for some time, but we cannot survive without intelligence; we need it for air defence.
“It’s mostly for protecting civilians and not for the frontlines. We hope to restore it next week and this will be a major point of discussion in Saudi Arabia.”
We reported last night on Trump’s comments that Ukraine “may not survive” even with US help, but Sirko-Klymenko said her country had survived many wars and “we will survive this one”.
“But the problem is how many lives, innocent lives of civilians, we will lose. That is the main question. No one will stop fighting.”
Watch her full interview here
For context: The security guarantee has been a sticking point of peace talks so far.
For Ukraine, it is viewed as absolutely vital in preventing further Russian aggression.
However, in Washington, they have resisted committing to anything resembling a security guarantee or putting boots on the ground.
Instead, Trump has claimed an economic deal would act in the same way, tying Washington and Kyiv’s interests together.
Sir Keir Starmer has previously said a US backstop would be key.
Both Kyiv and Moscow launched drone attacks overnight, as Russian war bloggers claimed the country’s advance in Kursk continues.
Last summer, Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russian territory.
It seized 500 square miles (1,300 square km) of land in arguably its most significant counteroffensive into Russia since the invasion began.
But by mid-February, Russia had taken back at least 300 square miles (800 square km).
Then, in recent days, Russia has launched a major offensive from multiple directions to cut off Ukraine’s supply lines and potential routes of withdrawal.
Drone attacks overnight
Overnight, the Ukraine military said Russia had launched 176 drones.
It said it had shot down 130 of these and another 42 didn’t reach their targets, in a statement on Telegram.
It did not specify what happened to the remaining four drones.
Ukraine also attacked Russia’s southern region of Samara, according to media and authorities.
“There are no injuries,” Russia’s emergency ministry said on Telegram, citing early details of a fire in Novokuibyshevsk that it said was limited to an area of 1,600 square metres (17,000 square ft).
The RIA news agency said a warehouse was on fire and Russia’s air defence units were said to have destroyed three drones.
War bloggers report on Kursk
The war bloggers below are pro-Russian writers, but in the past have correctly reported on developments in the war.
The Two Majors war blogger claimed Russian forces had cleared Ivashkovsky and that Moscow’s units were advancing.
Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, said that some Ukrainian units had become trapped in pockets in the Russian advance.
Another Russian blogger, close to the defence ministry, who goes by the name Rybar, also claimed that Moscow was advancing in the region.
On Sunday, Russian forces captured three settlements after special forces crept for miles through a gas pipeline in the town of Sudzha.
Watch that below:
Russia’s security service has said two British diplomats have been ordered to leave for “intelligence work”.
The FSB told state news agency TASS that both had deliberately given false information about themselves when entering the country.
The report adds the agency uncovered what it called “signs of intelligence and sabotage work”, which threatened national security.
A representative of the British embassy in Moscow has also been summoned to the Russian foreign ministry as a result.
There has been no immediate comment from the UK.
Preparations were in full swing over the weekend ahead of key peace talks in Saudi.
As we’ve been reporting, US officials are meeting counterparts from Ukraine in the Gulf state for the first time since Donald Trump’s disastrous meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month.
UK national security adviser Jonathan Powell met Andriy Yermak, the head of the office of the president in Ukraine, to exchange “views on key issues on the path to achieving peace”.
Donald Trump continues to be the key player in Ukraine peace talks.
Over the weekend, he spoke out a couple of times on the war and efforts to bring fighting to an end.
In an interview with Fox News, he suggested that Ukraine “may not survive” the war with Russia, even if American support continued.
But more optimistically, he said he had “just about” ended the suspension of intelligence sharing with Ukraine, adding he expected good results from this week’s coming peace talks.
Optimism over aid suspension and peace talks
Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump was asked if he would consider ending the suspension and said: “We just about have. We just about have.”
US intelligence has been crucial for Ukraine in its efforts fighting off Russia’s invasion, and the suspension has hit Kyiv both offensively and defensively.
CIA director John Ratcliffe said on Wednesday that the US had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, piling further pressure on the country.
So any end to the freeze will be welcomed in the Ukrainian capital.
Trump also expressed optimism about the talks this week.
“Let’s see what happens with the whole Russia-Ukraine thing. I think eventually and maybe not in the distant future, you’re going to have some pretty good results coming out of Saudi Arabia this week,” he said.
“We’re going to make a lot of progress, I believe, this week,” Trump added.
Watch Trump’s full comments aboard Air Force One
Ukraine ‘may not survive’
However, in an interview with Fox News, Trump warned that Ukraine “may not survive” the war with Russia even if US support continued.
He had been asked about a warning from Polish President Andrzej Duda “that without American support, Ukraine will not survive”.
Asked if he was “comfortable” with that outcome, the US president said: “Well, it may not survive anyway.
“But we have some weaknesses with Russia. You know, it takes two,” Trump added.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is travelling to Saudi Arabia today to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Talks will take place between the Ukrainian president’s team and US officials on ending the war with Russia at an increasingly precarious moment for Kyiv.
Once Ukraine’s main ally, under Donald Trump’s second administration, the US has reorientated its foreign policy and support for the country.
The Saudi Arabian leader has played various mediating roles since Russia’s invasion in 2022, including brokering prisoner exchanges and hosting talks between Russia and the US last month.
The talks are set to take place tomorrow and will be the first between the two countries since the disastrous Oval Office row between Zelenskyy and Trump.
The focus is expected to be on the critical minerals deal as well as how to end the war.
Zelenskyy has confirmed he will not attend the peace talks, and instead the Ukrainian delegation will include his chief of staff, foreign and defence ministers and a top military official in the presidential administration.
“On our side, we are fully committed to constructive dialogue, and we hope to discuss and agree on the necessary decisions and steps,” Zelenskyy said in a post on social media.
“Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively.”
Special US envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been arranging the talks, has said the idea this week was to “get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well”.
The US team will be led by secretary of state Marco Rubio and he will meet with Prince Mohammed as well.
Ahead of the talks, Rubio spoke with senior Ukraine officials and according to a US State Department handout he: “underscored President Trump is determined to end the war as soon as possible and emphasised that all sides must take steps to secure a sustainable peace.”
Zelenskyy previously offered some details on what the first stages of peace could look like, calling for a truce in the air and at sea, as well as a prisoner exchange.
The latter, he said, would offer a litmus test of Russia’s commitment to ending the war.
Russia, however, has rejected the idea of a temporary truce, claiming it is a bid for Kyiv to buy time.
Zelenskyy has also said that Kyiv was ready to sign the critical minerals deal with the US.
By Mark Wyatt, live news reporter
Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
With the conflict now well into its fourth year, international efforts to bring the fighting to an end are growing weekly.
Early peace talks started between Russia and the US last month, with Ukrainian officials due to meet with the Americans this week in Saudi Arabia.
European leaders have also accelerated their plans to secure peace in Ukraine, holding an emergency security summit in Brussels last week alongside Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In the UK, Sir Keir Starmer is also pushing his “coalition of the willing”, which he says could provide boots on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
At the same time, Kyiv is holding out on the battlefield in the face of a steady Russian advance on the frontline in the east.
Here’s everything you need to know as we start our coverage of the war for another week:
Ukraine-US talks to begin
Officials from Ukraine are due to meet with their US counterparts this week in Saudi Arabia for talks over ending the war.
Zelenskyy is not expected to attend the talks himself, but he will be in the country this week to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
Kyiv will instead be represented by foreign minister Andriy Sybiha and defence minister Rustem Umerov, among others.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will take part in talks on the American side, as he did with Russian officials in Riyadh last month.
The talks come at a time when relations between Kyiv and Washington are strained, to say the least.
Zelenskyy and Trump’s very public Oval Office spat caused the US president to say he was “determined” that his Ukrainian counterpart “is not ready for peace if America is involved”.
America then paused its military aid heading to Ukraine and stopped sharing intelligence with Kyiv last week.
CIA director John Ratcliffe said this would give Zelenskyy a “chance to think” about whether he was committed to peace or not.
Trump halts military aid to Ukraine… now what?
Deadly Russian strikes continue
While discussions take place over the possibility of peace, Ukraine has continued to be hit with deadly Russian drone strikes.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said last Friday was one of 2025’s deadliest attacks for Ukrainian civilians.
At least 22 people were killed in multiple Russian attacks, including 11 in the frontline town of Dobropilla in Ukraine’s embattled eastern Donetsk region.
Another seven people were killed in four towns close to the frontline, where Russian troops have been making steady advances, said regional governor Vadym Filashkin.
Three others died when a Russian drone hit a civilian workshop in the northeastern Kharkiv region, emergency services reported. One man was killed by shelling in the region.
Reacting to the strikes, Zelenskyy said Russia’s continued attacks on civilians showed Moscow was “not thinking about how to end the war”.
Russians advancing in Kursk region
On the battlefield, Ukraine’s hold of Russian territory in the Kursk region looks to be on the wain.
Kyiv’s forces launched a surprise offensive into the area last August,
Holding onto the territory would undoubtedly give Ukraine a better bargaining position in potential peace talks with Moscow, but recent developments make this now seem unlikely.
Open source maps showed this week that Ukraine’s positions in Kursk have deteriorated sharply, with reports over the weekend suggesting Ukrainians were nearly surrounded by Russians.
Pro-Russian military bloggers even said Russian special forces had recently walked miles along the inside of a major gas pipeline before surprising Ukrainian forces from the rear near the town of Sudzha.
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