Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin envoy claims ‘significant progress’ towards ceasefire in US talks – UK Times

Almost a decade after the Brexit referendum, Amber Rudd is hoping to rebuild bridges between the Tories and Europe.

The former home secretary is one of the driving forces behind a new informal Conservative European Affairs Council (Ceac) that aims to encourage pro-European Tories and help the party talk to Europe.

And with US president Donald Trump stepping back from European defence and Russia continuing to threaten the continent, she sees an even stronger case for improving Conservative relations with Europe.

US president Donald Trump’s inner circle is advising him against a call with Vladimir Putin until the Russian president commits to a full ceasefire with Ukraine, NBC News reported on Thursday, citing administration officials.

The report added that the officials were concerned Mr Trump could suddenly decide he wants to talk to Mr Putin, regardless of their guidance.

Mr Trump told NBC News on Sunday he planned to talk to the Russian president this week.

The United States and Russia have made major strides toward reaching a ceasefire in Ukraine, a senior Kremlin envoy has said following high-level meetings in Washington.

Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian negotiator and head of the state-run Russian Direct Investment Fund, announced that “significant progress has been made on the ceasefire agreement in Ukraine,” according to comments reported by Russian state media.

Mr Dmitriev held talks with officials from the administration of former US president Donald Trump over two days, on 2 and 3 April, representing Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Praising what he described as a constructive and respectful dialogue, Mr Dmitriev said both nations were working to revive diplomatic and economic ties, reported Tass.

He also claimed that American firms were showing interest in returning to Russia to occupy the market space left by European businesses that exited following the invasion of Ukraine.

“US companies are ready to occupy the niches left by European companies that left the Russian Federation,” he was quoted as saying.

Among other issues discussed were cooperation in the Arctic and joint ventures on rare earth metals. Talks also touched on the potential resumption of direct flights between the two countries, according to Mr Dmitriev.

While details of the proposed ceasefire have not been made public, the Kremlin envoy said the Trump administration “is listening to the position of the Russian Federation” and that a date for the next round of negotiations would be determined “in the near future.”

Ukraine has addressed some of its manpower shortages in the fight against Russia by broadening its recruitment base, a senior US military official has said.

General Christopher Cavoli, who leads the US European Command and serves as Nato’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told American lawmakers that Kyiv had taken steps to replenish its ranks.

He warned, however, that any halt in US support, particularly in weaponry and intelligence, would have a devastating effect on Ukraine’s battlefield capabilities.

Testifying before the US Senate on Thursday, General Cavoli stressed the critical role of American-supplied advanced weapon systems. He noted that Ukraine remains heavily reliant on Washington for larger anti-aircraft and missile defence platforms.

“If the Ukrainians were not able to receive intelligence from us, they would struggle to target, especially in-depth operational level targets such as command posts, logistics areas and things like that,” he told senators.

He said Ukrainian forces were maintaining control of territory in Russia’s Kursk region and that Moscow had lost around 4,000 tanks since the start of the invasion – almost equivalent to the total tank fleet of the United States.

The trial of a former Russian minister accused of breaching sanctions in the UK is “not about Vladimir Putin” or the war in Ukraine, jurors have been told.

Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, 48, the former mayor of Sevastopol in illegally annexed Crimea, is facing seven counts of circumventing sanctions between February 2023 and January 2024.

He is said to have deliberately avoided sanctions by opening a Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) account on or before February 2023 and having tens of thousands of pounds transferred to it by his wife, Ekaterina Ovsiannikova, who is facing four counts of breaching sanctions by assisting with the payments totalling £76,000.

During closing arguments yesterday at Southwark Crown Court, his defence barrister, Rosemary Davidson, told jurors that the case is not about the war in Ukraine or Ovsiannikov’s work as governor of Sevastopol.

The Foreign Secretary has accused Russia’s Vladimir Putin of “dragging out and obfuscating” efforts to find a peace deal to end the war.

David Lammy called on the UK’s Nato counterparts to increase pressure on Russia and stressed the need for Europeans to step up spending on defence to be “fairer” to the US.

Mr Lammy said: “Russia continues to rain down bombs on Ukrainian families, on Ukrainian armed soldiers and, of course, on Ukraine’s infrastructure.

“And they are dragging out and obfuscating all efforts to negotiate.

“Putin – we see you, and it’s hugely important that Nato allies come together to place more economic pressure on Russia so that they respond and are responsive to the negotiation attempts that President Trump has set out.”

Ukraine appears to have resolved some of its shortages of troops fighting Russia, including by widening the pool of eligible recruits, the top US general in Europe says.

US Army General Christopher Cavoli also stressed that any US cutoff in provision of weapons and intelligence to Ukraine would be extremely harmful to its war effort, despite Kyiv’s attempts to diversify its weapons suppliers.

Donald Trump temporarily cut off some assistance to Ukraine after an Oval Office blow-up with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, in which vice-president JD Vance complained about Kyiv’s manpower shortages and Mr Trump said Zelenskiy didn’t “have the cards” to end the war without US backing.

At least 11 more Ukrainian children have been brought home from parts of Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine where they had been taken without permission, Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said.

Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff, wrote on his Telegram channel: “Within the framework of the president of Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative, another 11 Ukrainian children were brought back from temporarily occupied areas (of Ukraine) and the territory of the Russian Federation.”

Among the children, Mr Yermak said, were brothers aged 10 and 12 whose father died after being tortured for expressing pro-Ukrainian views.

Also brought home, Mr Yermak wrote, was a pregnant mother who had been prevented from leaving occupied Ukraine because she had refused to take out Russian identity papers, and her two-year-old toddler.

The mother gave birth to another child in Ukrainian-held territory.

Mr Yermak thanked the office of Ukraine’s ombudsman for its help in arranging the return of the children.

Russia has not issued a statement on returning Ukrainian citizens.