3 h. ago Putin crushes hopes for a peace deal once more as UK eyes unlocking £8BILLION of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine

Speaking publicly for the first time about his talks with Donald Trump 's peace envoy Steve Witkoff, the Russian president held a hard line.

Economics

5 h. ago Vladimir Putin's WW3 threat 'has hidden meaning with ploy to influence Donald Trump'

Vladimir Putin torpedoed Donald Trump's Moscow-pandering peace plan to end the war in Ukraine with the Russian leader keen to squeeze more concessions from the US President

Politics

7 h. ago Putin says Russia disagrees with parts of the US peace plan to end the Ukraine war as he arrives in New Delhi for arms deal talks

It is understood that the main points of contention are the fate of Ukrainian territory seized by Russian forces and security guarantees for Kyiv.

Politics

14 h. ago US envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Ukraine national security chief in Miami

Meeting comes two days after Witkoff and Jared Kushner held five hours of talks with Vladimir Putin in MoscowAnalysis: Ukraine peace deal has stumbled yet againThe US special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Ukraine’s national security council chief, Rustem Umerov, in Miami on Thursday as Washington steps up its diplomatic push to secure a pathway to peace in Ukraine.Witkoff, accompanied by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, spent nearly five hours in talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Tuesday. Moscow later said the meeting had not brought the sides any closer to a peace agreement. Continue reading...

Events

22 h. ago This is WHY Donald Trump will fail to bring peace to Ukraine I fear the country will become Europe's Kashmir, PETER HITCHENS tells SARAH VINE in live Oxford University podcast debate

He predicted Ukraine's leaders will be 'too proud' to accept the necessary concessions to Putin after Western powers spent years telling them their fight is 'incredibly just'.

Events

31 h. ago Ovo founder aims to retake control after proposing £200mn investment

Stephen Fitzpatrick wants to provide UK energy supplier with cash injection that would increase his stake to more than 51%

Economics

32 h. ago The Ukraine peace deal has stumbled yet again over an inevitable obstacle: Putin

Russian leader’s rejection of latest peace proposal was predictable and shows the Kremlin continues to hold the trump cardBefore the harsh white glare of the Kremlin reception room came a telling prologue: Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s self-described “deal guys”, being led by Kremlin officials through the sparkling streets of a festive Moscow.Wasn’t it lovely, Vladimir Putin asked later, as both sides sat down to a five-hour negotiation that seems to have led right back to where they started. “It’s a magnificent city,” Witkoff replied. Then the cameras cut out. Continue reading...

Economics

33 h. ago Once again, Vladimir Putin indicates he wants the war in Europe to go on

Editorial: By entertaining a Ukrainian peace deal whose miserable terms not even a desperate US president could accept – before then promptly abandoning it – Moscow is stalling for time. The coalition of the willing must put more pressure on the faltering Russian economy

Politics

36 h. ago European Commission plans ‘reparations loan’ to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets

Leaders focus on bolstering Ukraine’s finances as US-Russia talks to end war make little progressThe European Commission will move ahead with controversial plans to fund Ukraine with a loan based on Russia’s frozen assets, but in a concession to concerns raised by Belgium, which hosts most of the assets, the EU executive has also proposed another option: an EU loan based on common borrowing.The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Wednesday the two proposals would ensure “Ukraine has the means to defend [itself] and take forward peace negotiations from a position of strength”. Continue reading...

Events

37 h. ago What we know about Russia's claim of capturing Pokrovsk – video

The Guardian’s defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, explains the current situation in Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region. On Monday the Russian defence ministry published a series of videos that showed Russian soldiers walking around the city centre waving their flags, and claimed they had taken over the entire zone. Ukraine denied this, saying its forces still controlled the northern zoneThe slow death of Pokrovsk Which areas is Russia demanding as its price for peace in Ukraine? – visual explainer Continue reading...

Politics

37 h. ago Nato ‘ready to do what it takes’ to protect Europe, as Russia denies rejecting Ukraine peace plan – Europe live

Mark Rutte’s response comes after Vladimir Putin’s comment that Russia was ‘ready’ for war with EuropeEuropean Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is now briefing the media after the commission’s weekly meeting, presenting the bloc’s plan to help fund Ukraine’s continuing fight against Russia.I will bring you the key lines here. Continue reading...

Politics

37 h. ago Which areas is Russia demanding as its price for peace in Ukraine? – visual explainer

Moscow is demanding Kyiv accept its ‘annexation’ of areas it occupies. After the latest round of talks between envoys of Putin and Trump ended without progress, we look at the territory Russia is seeking to absorbSources: Center for Strategic and International Studies, Institute for the Study of War, Yale Humanitarian Research Lab Ukraine Conflict Observatory, OpenStreetMap. Picture credits: Invasion trucks – Gettty; Sevastopol – Reuters; Yalta – Dennis Cox / Alamy; Donetsk steelworks – Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters. Continue reading...

Politics

37 h. ago Trump's Ukraine peace plan suffers disaster as Zelensky meeting is cancelled amid Putin war threats

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the architects of the Gaza peace deal, concluded five hours of bruising negotiations at the Kremlin on Tuesday.

Events

37 h. ago EU pushes ahead with plan to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine as Moscow denies rejecting US peace plan

Kremlin says Putin did not reject peace plan but found some parts of the deal ‘unacceptable’European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is now briefing the media after the commission’s weekly meeting, presenting the bloc’s plan to help fund Ukraine’s continuing fight against Russia.I will bring you the key lines here. Continue reading...

Politics

38 h. ago Ukraine peace talks fail as two killed in overnight missile strikes

No peace deal as US envoy Steve Witkoff's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin fails, prompting overnight and pre-dawn missile and drone attacks between Kyiv and Moscow forces

Events

38 h. ago 'Aggressor' Vladimir Putin is dragging his feet over peace talks for Ukraine, says Keir Starmer at PMQs

‘Compromises have not yet been found,’ on peace discussions says Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide - but US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says ‘some progress’ was made

Politics

40 h. ago Kremlin praises Trump for 'trying to find a solution' to Ukraine and insists Putin has not rejected latest peace plan but it was a 'first exchange'

The Kremlin has today praised Donald Trump for trying to reach a peace deal to end the invasion of Ukraine, adding that Vladimir Putin hasn't rejected the latest version of the plan. 

Politics

40 h. ago ‘Obvious’ Putin does not want peace in Ukraine, say Nato ministers, as Russia denies rejecting US plan

Kremlin says Putin did not reject peace plan but found some parts of the deal ‘unacceptable’We also got more reactions from the Kremlin this morning, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisting that Russia was ready to continue engagement with the US on Ukraine peace deal for as long as it takes to get an agreement – even as he branded some of the proposals “unacceptable”.Peskov insisted that Putin had not rejected any proposals, but merely “some things were accepted, some things were marked as unacceptable – this is a normal working process of finding a compromise.” Continue reading...

Politics

42 h. ago Putin doesn’t want peace –and Trump’s baffling error has made it easy for him

All hopes were on Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff trip to Moscow, but a breakthrough in peace talks was never going to happen with a man who has repeatedly taken Russia’s side, writes world affairs editor Sam Kiley

Politics

43 h. ago Energy suppliers slash fixed tariffs on hopes of peace in Ukraine: Should you switch YOUR deal?

Several energy suppliers have cut their fixed tariffs over the last week, with the wholesale cost of energy falling - meaning customers could save money.

Economics