JD Vance, Donald Trump’s vice-president, has said the US will abandon efforts to end the Ukraine war unless both sides agree to a “very explicit” peace proposal. Follow the latest on the war below, and listen to the Daily podcast on the prospects of peace as you scroll.
Wednesday 23 April 2025 15:57, UK
We’ve just heard from UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who has been holding talks with Ukrainian officials in London today.
“We are working at pace with US, Ukraine and European allies to end the war and secure a just and lasting peace, with senior official talks in London today,” he said.
He added that the meeting involving Defence Secretary John Healey, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha and Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov, was “valuable”.
Lammy also said it took place at a “critical moment for our security”.
For context: As we’ve been reporting throughout the day, foreign ministers from the US, France and Germany postponed a plan to join the meeting. But the Ukrainian and UK talks went ahead.
The downgrade in the level of diplomacy is in contrast with a recent intensification in the pressure from Donald Trump and his team for Kyiv and Moscow to agree to a ceasefire.
By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent
I think Russia will be quite content that the peace talks in London have been downgraded, because it gives them another chance to try to blame Ukraine for the lack of progress.
“Not possible to narrow positions” was the reason the Kremlin suggested for the development, in reference to the relationship between Washington and Kyiv.
I’m sure Moscow will seek to push that point when US envoy Steve Witkoff is in town later this week – that Ukraine are the difficult ones, not Russia, when it comes to trying to reach a peace deal.
Ever since Donald Trump threatened to walk away from talks at the end of last week, it feels like Russia has been falling over itself to show a willingness to make progress.
First it was the surprise Easter ceasefire; then it was Vladimir Putin saying he was open to direct talks with Kyiv (for the first time since the early days of the war); and most recently, reports (via the FT) that Russia has offered to halt its invasion along the current frontlines – which, if true, would be the first sign Russia is willing to back down from its maximalist demands. Previously, it had demanded Ukraine cede those territories in their entirety.
But despite this apparent verbal shift in position here in recent days, Moscow’s other demands still appear to be set in stone.
Just today, for example, the Kremlin once again reiterated its opposition to European peacekeepers as part of future security guarantees for Ukraine. And there’s still no apparent movement on issues like NATO membership, sanctions relief and Ukraine’s future status.
So how ready is Russia, really, to end its war? A peace deal still feels quite far away.
As officials meet in London for downgraded talks, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has taken aim at Donald Trump’s reported peace proposal we told you about a little earlier (see 12pm post).
Yulia Svyrydenko has said Ukraine is “ready to negotiate – but not to surrender”.
“A full ceasefire – on land, in the air, and at sea – is the necessary first step,” she said.
“If Russia opts for a limited pause, Ukraine will respond in kind.”
Breaking down the specifics, Svyrydenko insisted Ukraine would “never recognise” the occupation of Crimea – something the US has said it would do in its proposal.
Another of Trump’s proposals is to bar Ukraine from NATO membership, with Svyrydenko stating the country will require “binding security guarantees” as a result.
By Freya Gibson, junior OSINT Producer
Data from a NASA satellite of a huge weapons depot in Russia indicates that explosions took place on the site yesterday – causing fires which were burning into this morning.
The 51st arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate (GRAU) of the Russian Ministry of Defence is situated near the village of Barsovo, 60km away from Moscow.
It stores significant reserves of artillery shells and missiles of various types, giving an overall number of approximately 105 thousand tons of weapons, according to reports.
Lieutenant Andriy Kovalenko, head of the NSDC Centre of Countering Disinformation, said the arsenal had “burned down badly” and a “secondary detonation engulfed it almost completely”.
Watch: Explosions seen at Russian ammunition depot
NASA FIRMS enables access to global near-real-time satellite imagery showing active fire/hotspots.
The image below shows the fire at the arsenal today.
Geolocated footage and satellite data from NASA FIRMS shows the explosion took place at around 13:00 UTC yesterday.
The fire was picked up by satellite at around 17:54 UTC yesterday evening and has stayed present through to today.
This satellite image from 2024 shows over 100 storage facilities likely to be holding ammunition and weaponry.
The geolocated video below shows a small crater and shrapnel in a nearby village Krasnyy Oktyabr, which is 8km away from the 51st GRAU arsenal site.
Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke is back to answer your Ukraine war questions in his weekly Q&A, which begins in 15 minutes.
Follow along by tapping below.
JD Vance this morning issued a fresh statement on the US efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
“We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process,” Vance told reporters.
He said it was “a very fair proposal” that would “freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today”, with both sides having to give up some territory they currently hold.
He didn’t share any more details, but you can watch military analyst Michael Clarke explain the reported proposal in our 12.40 post.
Watch Vance’s comments here…
Vladimir Putin says Russia’s armed forces still lack certain weapons despite a ramping up of defence production since the war in Ukraine began.
Putin told a meeting of the state Military-Industrial Commission that Russian troops have received more than 4,000 armoured vehicles, 180 warplanes and helicopters, and over 1.5 million drones of various types.
Despite that, the Russian leader said there were gaps in other areas.
“I know very well, and many here who are participating in our meeting today know it as well as I do, that these weapons are still lacking,” Putin said, citing a need for more drones as one example.
According to reports, the US has proposed a seven-stage peace plan to end the war in Ukraine.
In this video, military analyst Michael Clarke takes you through what the plan involves, and explains which points will prove contentious…
By Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor
Downgraded talks between the UK, US, Ukraine, France and Germany on a peace plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine are under way in London.
The meeting was initialled billed as a gathering of the foreign ministers from the five countries.
Instead, the national security advisers from the UK, France and Germany are holding discussions as well as officials from the US and Ukraine.
David Lammy and John Healey, the UK foreign and defence secretaries, are separately holding a bilateral discussion with their Ukrainian counterparts who still made the journey to the capital.
Healey is also due to speak with Keith Kellogg, Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, who is representing the United States in the discussions instead of Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State.
By Azad Safarov, Ukraine producer and Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor
Ukraine is ready to talk about a peace deal with Russia – but only after a ceasefire is in place, a Ukrainian government source has told Sky News.
A US peace proposal – widely reported in the media – includes recognising Russian control of the illegally annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
Trump’s reported seven-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine includes these proposals:
But the Ukrainian government source said: “If the Americans… promised this to the Russians, why should they get such a gift now, when there is not even a ceasefire? We do not know the answer to this question.”
The comments offer a sense of tension behind the scenes as British, American, Ukrainian, French and German officials meet in London on Wednesday to talk about ending Russia’s war.
The meeting was meant to have been between the foreign ministers of the five countries but was downgraded to officials-level after Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, pulled out.
The Ukrainian foreign minister and defence minister still travelled to London, however, and are holding bilateral talks with their British counterparts.
The Ukrainian government source said: “Look, we have a few fundamental points.
“The first is that while people are dying every day, it is extremely strange to focus on anything other than an immediate full and unconditional ceasefire
“Especially since Easter showed that this is possible, because the intensity of the fighting decreased and there were no air strikes when Putin ordered it.
“Second, we are ready to discuss everything else in any format after the ceasefire.”
Ukraine would never recognise Crimea as Russian as that would be against the constitution, the source added.
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