Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump says Moscow deal could be ‘next’ after talks with Putin and Zelensky – UK Times

The prime minister, who set out the plans as he arrived in France for the G7 summit, warned that Putin’s “aggression threatens not just Ukraine, but the security of all Europe”.

Speaking on Tuesday, Sir Keir said: “The UK is stepping up – choking off the revenues that fuel Putin’s war and powering Ukraine through the winters ahead.

Britain is set to supply more nuclear fuel to Ukraine in renewed support for the war-hit nation and also ramp up sanctions against Russia, prime minister Keir Starmer will announce at a meeting with G7 leaders in France today.

As part of an effort to show support for Ukraine remains steadfast, the UK will now provide £210 million of UK Export Finance to power Ukraine’s nuclear plants for the next two years as part of a package which will enable UK-based Urenco to supply enriched uranium to Ukraine’s nuclear power producer, Energoatom – which provides more than half of the country’s electricity.

It was agreed last week at a meeting in Downing Street between Sir Keir and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

The agreement also supports UK jobs and exports, the government said, with more than a third of the uranium content originating from Urenco’s processing plant in the North-West of England.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has offered to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after he met with Donald Trump and European leaders at the G7 gathering in France yesterday.

“Yesterday (Sunday), we discussed with President Trump that such a meeting could be organised in the US, in a format where Putin would find it much harder to refuse,” Zelensky said in a video address posted on X.

“We will see what comes of it. If Russia refuses this chance as well, additional pressure will be needed.”

A Ukrainian official familiar with the matter said the Kremlin has not replied to Zelensky’s proposal. The Kremlin has said repeatedly that if Zelensky wants to meet Putin, he can come to Moscow.

Earlier, Zelensky said he offered to meet Putin during the G7, but that Moscow had “once again demonstrated that it is not ready to speak about this.”

Putin is wanted by the ICC on a warrant dating to March 2023 for alleged involvement in the abduction of children from Ukraine during the conflict. France would be obliged as an ICC member to arrest him. The United States and Russia both oppose the court.

The head of Russia’s central bank, Elvira Nabiullina, who warned president Vladimir Putin that she would exit the top role if he continues to escalate the war in Ukraine, has not been seen in public for almost three weeks.

Nabiullina had been tasked with protecting the Russian economy at a time when it has invaded Ukraine and poured much of its resources into the war.

The former Russian economy minister and a close adviser to the Kremlin has been in her position since 2013.

She was last seen in public at the end of May, and reportedly missed the key economic forum in St Petersburg where Putin attempted to project financial stability and strength in his bid to shore up investments.

Nabiullina also did not appear at a meeting chaired by Putin on inflation and interest rates.

However, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rubbished reports of her being “missing” and said it is not a cause for “conspiracy theories”. “People get sick sometimes,” he added.

This was backed up by the central bank, which announced Nabiullina was on sick leave but will make an appearance at a press conference on 19 June following a Board of Directors meeting on Russia’s monetary policy.

The captain of a Russian shadow fleet vessel intercepted by British commandos was charged with contravening sanctions, Britain’s National Crime Agency announced.

Ajay Pant, an Indian ⁠national, was ​charged ⁠with “directly or indirectly supplying or delivering by ⁠ship prohibited oil/oil products from ​Russia ⁠to a third ‌country…,” the agency said.

Pant is set to ‌appear at the ‌Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, the agency added.

British ⁠commandos on Sunday boarded and intercepted Smyrtos, a sanctioned Russian oil tanker sailing under a Cameroonian flag, in the English Channel. The ‌tanker has been detained.

The ​UK has ‌sanctioned almost 600 ⁠Russian shadow fleet vessels. ⁠Russia’s oil revenue helps fund ‌its ​war in Ukraine.

France’s foreign minister ⁠said the attack on the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, a Unesco world heritage site founded in 1051, was akin to bombing Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris.

The Russian strikes came after Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he had discussed with US president Donald Trump efforts to secure an end to the conflict, ahead of a G7 meeting in France this week.

“A Russian strike on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra set the Dormition Cathedral on fire – a church whose history dates back to the 11th century. And this is one of Russia’s most serious crimes against Christian ⁠culture to date,” Mr Zelensky said on X.

The former US special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has condemned the Russian attack on Kyiv’s monastery and said it is like the bombing of St Paul’s Cathedral in 1940 by Nazi Germany.

“This attack tonight on the Monastery by the Russians in Kyiv makes no sense. It has a parallel with the bombing of London’s St. Paul’s in 1940 by the Germans. It won’t work,” Kellogg said on X.

He added: “Someone tell me the military necessity of the Russian attack. There is none.”

The head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has condemned Russia’s attack on a major cathedral in Kyiv, calling Vladimir Putin the “Kremlin Antichrist”.

“Due to the Russian shelling that is currently taking place, on the night of 15 June, the roof of one of the holiest places in the Christian world – the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra – is burning,” Metropolitan Epifaniy said on X, calling the attack “another Russian crime against humanity, against history and against Christianity”.

“What more must the Kremlin Antichrist do for the world to realize that decisive action must be taken so that the Russian terror against Ukraine and the very principles of peace comes to an end?” he asked.

At least two bridges ⁠connecting the Russian-held part of Ukraine’s Kherson ⁠region ​with ⁠Crimea were damaged ⁠and traffic suspended ​by ⁠an ‌overnight drone attack by Ukraine, ‌the Russian-installed governor ‌Vladimir Saldo said ⁠on Telegram this morning.

The bridge was one of the few connectivity options for Russian forces to supply their troops with manpower and ammunition. It is not yet clear how badly Russia’s military operations in Ukraine’s east will be impacted due to the attack.

The illegally-annexed Crimea peninsula has faced a fuel ‌supply crisis after ​intensifying ‌attacks.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of “deliberately” targeting a historic cathedral, which is also a Unesco world heritage site.

“It has been confirmed that two Russian drones deliberately targeted the part of the city where the Lavra and the Mystetskyi Arsenal are located,” he wrote in a post on X on Monday.

“As of now, 35 people are reported injured in Kyiv. Across the country, 53 people have been wounded, and 11 people are known to have been killed in this massive Russian attack.”