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?
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Kyiv denies Russian accusations of 'war crimes' in Kursk
Ukraine has dismissed Moscow’s accusations that Kyiv’s troops committed war crimes in Russia’s Kursk region, describing them as “completely unfounded”.
"The Russian accusations of atrocities and crimes committed by Ukraine in Kursk Oblast are completely unfounded,” foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said.
“Ukraine has always adhered to international humanitarian law, particularly in ensuring the humane treatment of civilians in conflict zones, and has not violated these principles."
Moscow fabricates this “evidence base” to make false accusations against Kyiv, Mr Tykhyi added according to Ukrainska Pravda.
"All of this is false. The majority of local population and property in Kursk Oblast have been impacted by Russian bombardments, including targeted strikes,” he added.
'Coalition of the willing' to meet in Paris next week - Zelensky
Volodymyr Zelensky has said a summit will be held next week for the ‘coalition of the willing’, the group of countries prepared to invest in peacekeeping efforts in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
The summit will be held in Paris, Mr Zelensky told a media briefing with the Czech president Petr Pavel, adding that it will address future security guarantees for Ukraine.
"Next week we have a bilateral meeting with President Macron. We have many issues to discuss. I hope the outcome of this meeting will be a good one,” he said.
The meeting will be followed by the summit, where countries among the coalition will discuss “what the infrastructure of the contingent will look like”, and “who is ready” to be part of peacekeeping efforts in Ukraine.
"I would like us to have some concrete outcomes. We have discussed this with President Macron," the Ukrainian president added.
Mapped: Russia's advance is slowing down in the Donetsk region
Zelensky defies Trump: Hands off my nuclear plants
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.
Read the full story here:
Zelensky defies Trump, warning: Hands off my nuclear power stations
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.
Why is the Sudzha gas pumping station important?
A fire has erupted at a gas pumping station in the Russian region of Kursk bordering Ukraine, after a huge explosion rocked the site.
The station has been a critical hub for Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine, before Kyiv refused to extend the agreement in January this year.
Once it passed through the station, it entered Ukraine’s pipeline system into Slovakia, before going onto the Czech Republic and Austria.
In 2023, almost half of all Russian gas exports to Europe were pumped through the station.
Recap of events today
• Three were injured and fires broke out after Russia launched a mass drone attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea port in Odesa on Thursday night.
• 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.
Watch: Gas pumping station in Sudzha rocked by major explosion
Serbian deputy PM says Moscow helped put out anti-government protests
Serbia's deputy prime minister has said Russia’s spy services helped authorities respond to months of anti-government protests.
Students, backed by teachers, farmers and workers, have maintained daily protests across Serbia since last November, when 16 people died in a roof collapse at a train station in the northern city of Novi Sad, which they blame on corruption.
"I am very grateful to Russia's special services, which always support us in our fight against colour revolutions, primarily with information," Deputy Prime Minister Alexandar Vulin said in an interview with Russia's RIA state news agency.
"They know what danger hangs over Serbia," RIA quoted Vulin as saying.
Russian court jails anti-war dissident for 16 years
A military court has jailed a Soviet-era anti-war activist for 16 years.
The court in St Petersburg convicted Alexander Skobov of "justifying terrorism," the Prosecutor General's office said,
It said he had repeatedly posted information on social media "justifying carrying out terrorist acts, including calls to carry out illegal activity" and that he had taken part in the activities of a "terrorist organisation."
Skobov, who was jailed in the Soviet Union for his opposition to the authorities, publicly condemned President Vladimir Putin's decision to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 and has repeatedly said that Moscow should return any territory it had taken during the conflict.
Russian authorities have jailed outspoken critics of what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine, drawing fierce condemnation from Western human rights groups who say the crackdown amounts to a repressive clamp-down on free speech.
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