Russian invasion Negotiations

Witkoff meets Ukraine again – after five hours with Putin

US envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Ukraine's national security adviser Rustem Umerov again in Miami today, Thursday, the White House confirms. This follows Witkoff's five-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump describes the talks in Moscow as "pretty good" and that the impression the US delegation got was that Putin wants a peace agreement. But he also tells reporters in the Oval Office that it is unclear what happens now because "it takes two to dance".

According to the Kremlin, some parts of the proposal that is now available are unacceptable. Exactly what was discussed in Moscow has not been disclosed, but a key issue is, according to The Guardian, what should happen to the four Ukrainian regions that Russia currently partially occupies.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha calls on Russia to "stop the bloodbath that it has started".

– Russia must stop wasting the world's time, he says according to The Independent.

Macron's warning in leaked call: Risk of US betraying Ukraine

Mistrust of the US is high among European leaders when it comes to the Ukraine war, writes German Der Spiegel. The newspaper has obtained a transcript of a telephone conversation between, among others, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj.

According to the leaked notes from the crisis call, Macron warned that "there is a risk that the US will betray Ukraine on territorial issues without clear security guarantees". He is also said to have described the situation in the negotiations as "a great danger" for Zelenskyj. However, the Élysée Palace disputes the quotes attributed to Macron.

Merz is said to have said that the Ukrainian president needs to be "very careful".

- They are playing with both you and us, Merz said according to the document about the US's talks with Moscow.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also expressed their concerns during the conversation and are said to have expressed a need to “protect Zelensky”.

Putin: I believe Trump wants peace but he also has his own agenda

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that US President Donald Trump has taken on a “complex” and “challenging” mission in trying to achieve peace in Ukraine.

– I am absolutely convinced that he really wants peace in Ukraine and to save lives, but economic and political interests are also at stake, he tells India Today.

Putin emphasizes that Trump “has his own agenda and his own goals” in trying to broker peace.

The president also claims that Russia supports Trump’s peace negotiations. At the same time, he says that the Ukrainian region of Donbas will become Russian.

In the interview, he also repeats false claims that the West and Ukraine started the war.