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Zelensky expects talks in the US as soon as this weekend – as the Kremlin says it is still waiting on an update from Washington
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Russia will not make any concessions on territory in talks to end the war, its deputy foreign minister said as Ukraine and the US hailed great progress in Berlin.
Sergei Ryabkov said Russia would hold on to the Donbas region in the east of Ukraine, as well as Crimea and the southern swathe of land Moscow calls ‘Novorossiya’.
Ryabkov dismissed public chatter about an emerging peace deal, as he said Washington has not yet updated the Kremlin on the progress of recent talks.
He shot down the idea of a Nato peacekeeping force in a post-war Ukraine after the US finally said it was open to offering Article 5-style guarantees, backed by European efforts.
Russia continued its attacks on Ukraine overnight as more than 280,000 households were left without power in the southern port region of Odesa.
Donald Trump said on Monday that he believed peace was closer than it ever has been before.
Longtime Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko told Newsmax that Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro is welcome to move to his country amid clashes with Donald Trump.
Lukashenko, a close Putin ally, said Belarus and Venezuela had longstanding relations and that Maduro was welcome to come to Minsk if he so wished.
He noted that no discussions have been held to that effect, but remained open to talking to Trump.
Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region has been left entirely without power following a Russian attack, the country’s deputy energy minister said this morning.
Russian air defences destroyed an unidentified drone flying towards Moscow, the city’s mayor said early on Tuesday.
Russia is still none the wiser on the outcome of Ukraine’s talks in Berlin.
Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said in comments published by RIA on Tuesday that Russia has no understanding of where the talks were left.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson had said on Monday that the US is not keeping Russia updated in real time.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister told TASS on Tuesday that Russia will not make any concessions on the Donbas, southern Russia or Crimea.
Territorial concessions are the biggest sticking point to peace, with the US and Europe now offering Ukraine security guarantees in principle.
Russia and Pakistan are in talks on a potential oil-sector agreement, Pakistan’s Finance Minister told Russian media.
Pakistan has stepped up engagement with Russia in recent years as Moscow sought new energy markets after Western sanctions over Ukraine, and Islamabad looked to lower import costs.
Donald Trump has been trying to compel buyers of Russian energy to stop in a bid to pressure Moscow into ending the war in Ukraine.
Monday concluded two days of talks in Berlin, as European leaders met on the sidelines of a US-Ukraine summit to talk through security guarantees.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that a ceasefire was now conceivable for the first time. Trump also said he thought a deal was “closer now than we’ve ever been”.
Hedging his bets, Zelensky said that he would ask the US for long-range weapons if Russia rejects their peace efforts.
Europe came away from talks with clearer plans for a European-led peacekeeping force, including a six-point security and recovery framework for Ukraine.
They said Ukraine must have defined security guarantees before any decisions are made on potential territorial concessions.
Kyiv again rejected the possibility of Russia controlling any of the Donbas region.
European leaders gathered in Berlin said they and the US committed to work together to provide “robust security guarantees,” including a European-led “multinational force” in Ukraine supported by the US.
They said the force’s work would include “operating inside Ukraine” as well as assisting in rebuilding Ukraine’s forces, securing its skies and supporting safer seas.
They said Ukrainian forces should remain at a peacetime level of 800,000.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said the guarantees by the US are “truly remarkable” and a “very important advancement” that he greatly welcomes.
The United States has offered to provide Nato-style security guarantees for Kyiv as US and European negotiators reported progress in talks to end the war with Russia.
Envoys sent by US president Donald Trump made the unprecedented offer at talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin, US officials said, but warned such a deal would not be on the table forever.
Under the deal being discussed in Berlin, Ukraine would receive security guarantees similar to those provided in Article 5 of the Nato treaty, which requires the alliance to come to the defence of any member that comes under attack, a US official aware of the matter said.
Another US official said Russia was open to Ukraine joining the European Union and that Trump wanted to prevent Russia from encroaching further westwards in Europe.
One official said security guarantees, including deconfliction and oversight of any deal, were the major focus of Monday’s talks and that an Article 5-like guarantee was something Trump believed he could get Moscow to accept.
Working groups are expected to meet in the US during the coming weekend, possibly in Miami, one of the officials said. “Are we prepared to go to Russia if needed? Absolutely,” the official added.
Ukrainian officials announced on Monday that their underwater drones successfully struck and disabled a Russian Kilo-class attack submarine.
This unprecedented operation targeted the Russian navy’s most important remaining Black Sea base, located in Novorossiysk.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claimed responsibility for the strike, executed by its “Sub Sea Baby” drones.
The port of Novorossiysk has become a critical location for Russia, where many naval vessels have been rebased to protect them from Ukrainian attacks.
Footage released by the SBU showed a powerful explosion erupting from the water at a pier, close to where a submarine and other vessels were docked. Reuters confirmed the video’s location by examining the port’s layout and piers.
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