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| Trump says he and Putin will discuss land and power plants in Ukraine ceasefire talks | Trump says he and Putin will discuss land and power plants in Ukraine ceasefire talks |
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| Trump says negotiators have already discussed ‘dividing up certain assets’ and that he will talk to Putin on Tuesday | Trump says negotiators have already discussed ‘dividing up certain assets’ and that he will talk to Putin on Tuesday |
| Donald Trump is to speak to Vladimir Putin on Tuesday after the Russian president last week responded to a US-brokered plan for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine with a series of sweeping conditions he said would need to be met. | |
| The Kremlin confirmed on Monday that the two leaders were due to speak on Tuesday by phone, after Trump’s statement that he planned to discuss with Putin ending the war in Ukraine. The US president also said that negotiators had already talked about “dividing up certain assets”, including power stations. | |
| “I’ll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work’s been done over the weekend,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One during a flight back to the Washington area from Florida. | “I’ll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work’s been done over the weekend,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One during a flight back to the Washington area from Florida. |
| “We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance,” Trump said. | “We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance,” Trump said. |
| US and Russian officials have engaged in discussions about Ukraine in recent weeks, with talks accelerating after Washington and Kyiv agreed on a proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire last week. | |
| Nevertheless, Putin in effect rejected the plan, instead outlining a series of conditions, including a halt to Ukraine’s rearmament and mobilisation, as well as a suspension of western military aid to Kyiv during the 30-day ceasefire. He also renewed calls for broader negotiations on a long-term settlement to the war. | Nevertheless, Putin in effect rejected the plan, instead outlining a series of conditions, including a halt to Ukraine’s rearmament and mobilisation, as well as a suspension of western military aid to Kyiv during the 30-day ceasefire. He also renewed calls for broader negotiations on a long-term settlement to the war. |
| Ukraine, which has agreed to the truce, accused Putin of seeking to prolong the war. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, has also consistently said the sovereignty of his country is not negotiable and that Russia must surrender the territory it has seized. | |
| Trump said: “We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants.” | Trump said: “We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants.” |
| The US president did not elaborate, but he was most likely referring to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, the largest in Europe. He said: “I think we have a lot of it already discussed very much by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We are already talking about that, dividing up certain assets.” | The US president did not elaborate, but he was most likely referring to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, the largest in Europe. He said: “I think we have a lot of it already discussed very much by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We are already talking about that, dividing up certain assets.” |
| The comments came hours after his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said that the Russian president “accepts the philosophy” of Trump’s ceasefire and peace terms. | The comments came hours after his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said that the Russian president “accepts the philosophy” of Trump’s ceasefire and peace terms. |
| Witkoff told CNN that discussions with Putin over several hours last week had been “positive” and “solution-based”. | Witkoff told CNN that discussions with Putin over several hours last week had been “positive” and “solution-based”. |
| But he declined to confirm when asked whether Putin’s demands included the surrender of Ukrainian forces in Kursk, international recognition of Ukrainian territory seized by Russia as Russian, limits on Ukraine’s ability to mobilise, a halt to western military aid, and a ban on foreign peacekeepers. | But he declined to confirm when asked whether Putin’s demands included the surrender of Ukrainian forces in Kursk, international recognition of Ukrainian territory seized by Russia as Russian, limits on Ukraine’s ability to mobilise, a halt to western military aid, and a ban on foreign peacekeepers. |
| Putin said on Thursday that he supported a truce but outlined numerous maximalist demands that he said needed to be negotiated before the deal could be completed. Moscow has among other things firmly opposed the deployment of European troops to provide security guarantees for Ukraine after any eventual ceasefire. | |
| Before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s top diplomat, criticised Putin’s negotiation tactics. She said: “What Russia has put forward makes it clear they don’t truly want peace. They are setting their ultimate war objectives as preconditions.” | Before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s top diplomat, criticised Putin’s negotiation tactics. She said: “What Russia has put forward makes it clear they don’t truly want peace. They are setting their ultimate war objectives as preconditions.” |
| On Sunday, Emmanuel Macron said Russia’s permission was not needed, noting that Ukraine was a sovereign state. The French president said: “If Ukraine requests allied forces to be on its territory, it is not up to Russia to accept or reject them,” he said in remarks quoted by several French newspapers. | On Sunday, Emmanuel Macron said Russia’s permission was not needed, noting that Ukraine was a sovereign state. The French president said: “If Ukraine requests allied forces to be on its territory, it is not up to Russia to accept or reject them,” he said in remarks quoted by several French newspapers. |
| Later on Sunday Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Alexander Grushko, said that any long-lasting peace treaty on Ukraine must meet Moscow’s demands. | |
| “We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement,” Izvestia cited Grushko as saying. “Part of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of Nato countries to accept it into the alliance.” | “We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement,” Izvestia cited Grushko as saying. “Part of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of Nato countries to accept it into the alliance.” |
| Regarding the possibility of European troops in Ukraine, he said: “It does not matter under what label Nato contingents were to be deployed on Ukrainian territory: be it the European Union, Nato, or in a national capacity … If they appear there, it means that they are deployed in the conflict zone with all the consequences for these contingents as parties to the conflict. | |
| Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice has notified European officials that the United States is withdrawing from a multinational taskforce established to investigate leaders behind the invasion of Ukraine, including Putin. | Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice has notified European officials that the United States is withdrawing from a multinational taskforce established to investigate leaders behind the invasion of Ukraine, including Putin. |
| The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, which the US joined under Biden in 2023, signals the latest shift in the unprecedented warming relations between Moscow and Washington. The US previously voted against a UN resolution drafted by Ukraine and the European Union condemning Russia on the third anniversary of its full-scale invasion. | The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, which the US joined under Biden in 2023, signals the latest shift in the unprecedented warming relations between Moscow and Washington. The US previously voted against a UN resolution drafted by Ukraine and the European Union condemning Russia on the third anniversary of its full-scale invasion. |
| On Monday, Russia also welcomed Trump’s decision to cut funding for Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, two US-funded news organisations that broadcast to audiences in authoritarian states. The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, described the media outlets as “propagandistic, purely propagandistic”. | On Monday, Russia also welcomed Trump’s decision to cut funding for Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, two US-funded news organisations that broadcast to audiences in authoritarian states. The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, described the media outlets as “propagandistic, purely propagandistic”. |
| In February last year, Russia designated Radio Free Europe as an “undesirable organisation”, a move that effectively bans an organisation outright and creates problems for anyone who interacts with it | In February last year, Russia designated Radio Free Europe as an “undesirable organisation”, a move that effectively bans an organisation outright and creates problems for anyone who interacts with it |