6 h. ago Europe is holding the line against Trump’s and Putin’s plans for Ukraine. But it won’t be able to for ever | Martin Kettle

In the 21st-century imbalance of power, Europe and Nato have neither the arms nor the wealth to impel Russia or the US to take its peace settlement seriouslyThe failure of this week’s peace talks between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff fits into a now well-established pattern of standoffs on Ukraine during Trump’s second term. But the dynamic that produced these talks may be becoming more entrenched. The US and Russian interests driving the process have not changed, while the conflict on the ground is intensifying. The lack of progress this week means there will be another attempt to end the war soon, and perhaps another after that, until, one day, there is some kind of US-backed deal to halt the conflict on terms broadly favouring Russia.The geopolitical algorithm driving this effort is too consistent to ignore. It has been repeated ever since Trump re-entered the White House in January. On the campaign trail, Trump had claimed he could stop the war in a day. ...

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22 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

23 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

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24 h. ago Putin accused of the 'same old sabre rattling' after claiming Russia is 'ready for war' with Europe ahead of peace talks with the US

UK ministers lashed out at the dictator over comments made ahead of a round of US-led peace talks that failed to agree a way to end Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine .

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25 h. ago BREAKING: NATO sends Putin brutal message with $1bn pledge as peace talks in tatters

NATO members will soon spend at least one billion US dollars per month on American weapons for Ukraine

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27 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

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27 h. ago Europeans accuse Putin of faking interest in peace after talks with US envoys

Ukrainian and European officials are accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of faking interest in peace efforts

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28 h. ago UK slams Putin ‘sabre rattling’ after he says Russia ready for Europe war and digs in on Ukraine peace talks

‘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

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29 h. ago Putin digs in after Zelensky voices optimism on Trump peace talks to end Ukraine war

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

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32 h. ago Russia ‘ready’ for war if Europe starts it, Putin says, as US peace talks end without progress

Kremlin aide says Ukraine crisis is no closer to resolution after Witkoff talks, as Russian president accuses European powers of sabotaging peace Russia and the US did not make progress toward a peace deal for Ukraine during their talks, a senior aide to Vladimir Putin has said, hours after the Russian president issued threats that Russia was ready for war with Europe.In remarks to Russian media, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said that after a five-hour meeting with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, the two sides were “neither further nor closer to resolving the crisis in Ukraine. There is a lot of work to be done.” Continue reading...

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37 h. ago Russia ‘ready’ for war with Europe, Putin says, as US peace talks end without progress

Kremlin aide says Ukraine crisis is no closer to resolution after Witkoff talks, as Russian president accuses European powers of sabotaging peace Russia and the US did not make progress toward a peace deal for Ukraine during their talks, a senior aide to Vladimir Putin has said, hours after the Russian president issued threats that Russia was ready for war with Europe.In remarks to Russian media, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said that after a five-hour meeting with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, the two sides were “neither further nor closer to resolving the crisis in Ukraine. There is a lot of work to be done.” Continue reading...

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39 h. ago Russia ‘ready’ for war with Europe, Putin says as peace talks with US begin

Russian president accuses European powers of preventing peace in Ukraine as he meets with Witkoff and KushnerRussia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesVladimir Putin has accused European powers of preventing peace in Ukraine and threatened that Russia was ready for war as Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, arrived for talks at the Kremlin on Tuesday evening.Moments before the closed-door meeting with Witkoff and Kushner, Putin made a series of hard-edged remarks. Speaking to reporters, he accused European governments of sabotaging the peace process and said that “European demands” on ending the war in Ukraine were “not acceptable to Russia”. Continue reading...

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42 h. ago 'Optimism' from Zelensky raises hopes on Trump peace talks to end Putin's war in Ukraine

But there were few other signs that an agreement was close to being reached between Russia, Ukraine and the US

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44 h. ago Putin says he 'is ready for a war with Europe right now' as Trump's son

Russian President Vladimir Putin today warned he is ready for a war with Europe 'right now' - as Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived for peace talks in Moscow.  

Politics

45 h. ago BREAKING: Putin sends chilling 'we are ready to fight' warning to Europe

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has accused European leaders of “hindering” US proposals for an agreement of Ukraine and insisted they “do not have a peaceful agenda”

Events

45 h. ago Putin sends chilling 'we are ready to fight' warning to Europe

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has accused European leaders of “hindering” US proposals for an agreement over Ukraine and insisted they “do not have a peaceful agenda”

Events

48 h. ago Ukraine targets Russia’s shadow fleet as it steps up drone war

Kyiv admits striking ships to squeeze Moscow’s war revenues as peace talks enter new phase

Events

51 h. ago Putin brags about Russia's latest battlefield success in Ukraine as another town falls to his troops

In a video, Putin praised commanders for what he claimed was the full capture of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, calling the advance an important step toward Moscow's wider military goals.

Politics

60 h. ago US and Russian demands for Ukrainian territory is ‘toughest part of peace negotiations’, says President Zelensky

US and Russian demands to give Moscow swathes of Ukrainian territory are “the most difficult” part of peace talks, President Zelensky revealed yesterday. He was speaking after marathon meetings with France's President Macron, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US envoy Steve Witkoff – who is due to meet Putin in Moscow today. Zelensky said: “The...

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2 d. ago Zelenskyy says Ukraine peace must be ‘durable’ after Macron talks as US team head to Moscow – Europe live

Ukrainian president embarks on busy week of diplomacy as US ups pressure to end warUK prime minister Keir Starmer is delivering a major economy speech this morning.You can follow all the key lines on our UK live blog with my colleague Andrew Sparrow, but there’s a particular line of argument that will no doubt reasonate in Europe, too.“Let me be crystal clear, there is no credible economic vision for Britain that does not position us as an open, trading economy.So we must all now confront the reality that the Brexit deal we have significantly hurt our economy and so for economic renewal, we have to keep reducing frictions. Continue reading...

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