Ukraine-Russia war latest: Ceasefire talks resume in Saudi Arabia as Trump envoy Witkoff praises Putin
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff says: ‘I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy. He’s super smart.’
Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has praised Vladimir Putin, saying he “liked” the Russian president as US-brokered ceasefire discussions got under way in Saudi Arabia.
“I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy. He’s super smart,” Mr Witkoff told far-right commentator Tucker Carlson, while also dismissing Sir Keir Starmer’s plan for a “coalition of the willing” to provide military security guarantees to Ukraine as “a posture and a pose”.
His remarks came as Ukrainian officials met with US counterparts in Riyadh on Sunday to discuss a ceasefire, with Russian officials set to follow suit on Monday – marking the first such parallel peace talks since the early days of Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
As the Ukrainian round of talks concluded on Sunday night, Kyiv’s defence minister Rustem Umerov said they had been “constructive and meaningful” discussions, focused particularly on the energy sector.
Just hours earlier, officials said at least seven people were killed – including a five-year-old child – as Russia launched an overnight barrage of drones at Kyiv. The drones hit apartment buildings and sparked several fires throughout Ukraine’s capital despite Moscow agreeing to a limited ceasefire, officials said.
Sir Keir’s ‘coalition of the willing’ is proving to be principled – and a rallying cry for Ukraine 
Zelensky claims Putin is ‘amassing troops to strike us’ following Russian leader’s phone call with Trump
Mapped: Which Ukrainian nuclear power plants could Trump take as part of ceasefire deal?
Trump story about ‘surrounded’ Ukraine troops contradicted by his own intelligence, report reveals
Trump’s envoy dismisses Starmer’s Ukraine plan as ‘a posture and a pose’
Donald Trump’s special envoy has dismissed Sir Keir Starmer’s proposal for an international force to support a ceasefire in Ukraine, calling it “a posture and a pose".
Steve Witkoff criticised the idea, arguing it stemmed from a “simplistic” belief among the UK prime minister and other European leaders that “we have all got to be like Winston Churchill".
In an interview with journalist Tucker Carlson, Mr Witkoff praised Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying he "liked" him and did not consider him a “bad guy".
He described Mr Putin as “super smart” and recounted a meeting with him ten days ago, during which he found the Russian leader to be “gracious” and “straight up".
According to Mr Witkoff, Mr Putin claimed he had prayed for Mr Trump following an assassination attempt against the former US president last year.
He also revealed that the Russian leader had commissioned a portrait of Mr Trump as a gift, which, he said, had “clearly touched” him.
Russian drone attack on Kyiv kills two, Ukraine’s emergency service says
A Russian drone attack on Kyiv killed two people, sparked fires in apartment buildings and forced the evacuation of tens of people, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said early on Sunday.
A woman died after falling debris from a destroyed drone sparked a fire in a high-rise residential building the capital's Dniprosvkyi district, the emergency service posted on the Telegram messaging channel.
At least 27 were evacuated from the building. Another person died in the overnight attack on Kyiv's Holosiivskyi district, the service said.
ICYMI: Full ceasefire will come 'pretty soon', says Trump
Donald Trump has said he expects a “full ceasefire” in Ukraine to be agreed “pretty soon”.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, the US president said the full ceasefire will be followed up by a “contract” to divide Ukrainian land between Moscow and Kyiv.
“The contract is being negotiated, the contract in terms of dividing up the lands, it’s being negotiated as we speak,” added Mr Trump, who has spoken with both Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in the last week.
Drone attack on Russia’s Rostov region kills one person in car, regional governor says
A drone attack killed one person in a car in Russia's Rostov region, the acting governor of the southern Russian region said this morning.
"A car caught fire due to a drone attack," acting governor Yuri Slyusar said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
"A person in the car was killed."
Watch: Putin ally clashes with LBC host as he claims Ukrainians are 'thankful' for Russian invasion
£25bn Russian assets frozen by UK since start of Ukraine war, Treasury says
Some £25bn worth of Russian assets have been frozen by the UK government since the start of the Ukraine war, newly-released figures have revealed.
A report released by the Treasury on Friday revealed the total, which accounts for all assets that have been sanctioned by the UK since February 2022 when the invasion of Ukraine began.
Some 2,001 individuals and entities have been sanctioned under the regime as of March 2024, according to the Treasury.
Russia accuses an 'unfriendly state' of planning the 2004 Moscow concert hall assault
One year since the Moscow concert hall attack killed 145 people, Russian officials asserted Saturday that it was planned and organized by "the special services of an unfriendly state.”
The aim, according to a a statement by Svetlana Petrenko, the representative of the Russian Investigative Committee, was to "destabilize the situation in Russia.”
Though she did not specify the “unfriendly state,” she noted that “six Central Asians” currently outside of Russia had been charged in absentia and placed on Russia’s wanted list for allegedly recruiting and organizing the training of four of the suspected perpetrators.
Read the full article here:
Russia accuses an 'unfriendly state' of planning the 2004 Moscow concert hall assault
Trump story about ‘surrounded’ Ukraine troops contradicted by his own intelligence, report reveals
Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have both insisted that Ukraine’s forces in Kursk are surrounded by Russian troops and are in imminent danger, but U.S. intelligence reports have contradicted those claims.
A trio of U.S. and European officials familiar with intelligence details of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine told Reuters that the situation on the ground does not reflect the comments made by Trump and Putin.
One of the U.S. officials also said that the White House was briefed on the actual situation in Ukraine, so it’a unclear why Trump has and continues to claim that Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk region are surrounded.
Read the full report:
Trump’s story about ‘surrounded’ Ukraine troops contradicted by his own intelligence
Russia accuses an ‘unfriendly state’ of planning the 2024 Moscow concert hall assault
One year since the Moscow concert hall attack killed 145 people, Russian officials asserted on Saturday that it was planned and organised by “the special services of an unfriendly state”.
The aim, according to a a statement by Svetlana Petrenko, the representative of the Russian Investigative Committee, was to “destabilise the situation in Russia”.
Though she did not specify the “unfriendly state,” she noted that “six Central Asians” currently outside of Russia had been charged in absentia and placed on Russia’s wanted list for allegedly recruiting and organising the training of four of the suspected perpetrators.
The four men, all of whom were identified in the media as citizens of Tajikistan, appeared in a Moscow court at the end of March last year on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.
According to Petrenko, 19 people are currently in custody in Russia in relation to the attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall.
A faction of the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the massacre in which gunmen shot people who were waiting for a show by a popular rock band and then set the building on fire. But Russian officials including president Vladimir Putin have persistently claimed – without presenting evidence – that Ukraine had a role in the attack. Kyiv has vehemently denied any involvement.
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