Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump says negotiators ‘dividing up lands’ with full ceasefire coming ‘pretty soon’
It is not clear who is involved in the apparent negotiations, following comments by the US president
Donald Trump has said negotiators are “dividing up” Ukrainian lands with a full ceasefire set to come “pretty soon” - despite no hint of any upcoming direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow.
A contract to divide up land in Ukraine is being “negotiated as we speak”, the US president, who has spoken to presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky in the past week, told reporters on Friday.
It is not clear who is involved in the apparent negotiations, but US officials are set to meet with both Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Saudi Arabia next week. Mr Zelensky said the US team would first meet Ukrainian experts on Monday before separate talks with Russian representatives.
It comes after Vladimir Putin’s forces were accused by Kyiv of bombing stations along their own crucial gas pipeline in an effort to sabotage any ceasefire deal.
A gas pumping station in Sudzha, in the Russian border region of Kursk was on fire on Friday morning after being rocked by a major explosion. Ukraine’s general staff has denied that its forces struck the pipeline and instead said it had been “repeatedly shelled by the Russians themselves”.
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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
South Korean minister says North should not be rewarded for wrongdoings in Ukraine
South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said on Saturday that military cooperation between North Korea and Russia must stop, and North Korea should not be rewarded for its wrongdoings in the course of bringing about the end of the war in Ukraine.
Cho also said it is important for South Korea, Japan and China to faithfully carry out UN sanctions against North Korea, and to put efforts into stopping North Korean provocations and bring about its complete denuclearisation.
Cho was meeting his Chinese and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo on Saturday, in the first such trilateral talks since 2023.
Three killed in Russian drone attack on Zaporizhzhia
Three people were killed and 12 wounded in a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian officials said, in an attack that underlined Moscow's intention to continue aerial strikes despite agreeing to a limited ceasefire.
Regional head Ivan Fedorov said on Saturday that "residential buildings, private cars, and social infrastructure facilities were set on fire" in the attack on Friday night, and published photos showing emergency services scouring the rubble of damaged residential buildings for survivors.
The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia fired 179 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Saturday.
It said 100 were intercepted and another 63 "lost," likely having been electronically jammed.
Officials in the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions also reported fires breaking out due to the falling debris from intercepted drones.
Russia's Ministry of Defence, meanwhile, said its air defence systems shot down 47 Ukrainian drones.
What happened on Friday?
- Ukraine accused Russia of bombing its own gas infrastructure in an effort to undermine ceasefire talks.
- Putin’s top security adviser met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and discussed Ukraine.
- The US is said to be seeking new terms for US access to minerals in Ukraine to include control over Kyiv’s nuclear power plants, the Financial Times reported.
- Britain is set to accelerate plans next week for a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine, including a discussion about how it can operate and the structure.
- Zelensky announced the ‘coalition of the willing’, the countries willing to support Ukrainian peacekeeping efforts, will meet in Paris next week.
- Donald Trump said a full ceasefire would come “very soon”, claiming that negotiators were “dividing up” Ukrainian land.
Watch: Sam Kiley visits Kherson where Ukrainian civilians are being targeted by Russian drones in near-daily attacks
Starmer: Putin is trying to delay and add conditions to ceasefire
Sir Keir Starmer has accused Vladimir Putin of attempting to “delay and add conditions” to any ceasefire in Ukraine, a Downing Street spokesperson said on Friday.
The prime minister spoke to EU chiefs along with the leaders of Turkey, Norway and Iceland, the spokesperson said.
“The Prime Minister began by updating on his recent call with President Zelenskyy, and said it was clear President Putin was trying to delay and add conditions to any meaningful ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
“The Prime Minister also outlined the new military sub-planning groups, across land, sea, air, regeneration and reconstruction, which would continue discussions across three intensive planning days next week,” they added.
The leaders discussed the importance of keeping up investment in military equipment to outpace any European threats.
Zelensky defies Trump, warning: Hands off my nuclear power stations
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that “all nuclear power plants belong to the people of Ukraine” after reports that his US counterpart Donald Trump said an American takeover of the country’s nuclear power would offer the “best protection” for it.
In their first conversation since Mr Trump verbally attacked Mr Zelensky in the White House and had him thrown out, the US president reportedly suggested Washington take ownership of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
But Kyiv says the discussions referred only to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian occupation.
Jane Dalton reports:
Zelensky defies Trump, warning: Hands off my nuclear power stations
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
Watch: Emotional reunions in Ukraine as hundreds of prisoners of war return
Mapped: Russia's lightning advance in Kursk sees Ukraine lose swathes of land
Full report: Moscow accused of bombing own gas infrastructure to undermine ceasefire deal
Moscow has been accused of bombing its own gas infrastructure in order to sabotage an energy ceasefire deal with Ukraine.
Ukraine’s general staff has denied that its forces struck a key gas pumping station in Sudzha, and instead said it had been “repeatedly shelled by the Russians themselves”.
The army accused Russia of seeking to pin the blame on Ukraine with “groundless” accusations its military was involved – all to undermine any truce and longer peace deal currently being negotiated by Donald Trump and the US.
“The Russian federation is intensifying its discrediting campaign against Ukraine,” it said.
Athena Stavrou reports:
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