Ukraine-Russia war latest: UN brokers limited ceasefire to allow vital repairs at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant – UK Times

Polish authorities have temporarily suspended operations at the Rzeszow and Lublin airports in order to allow military planes to operate freely, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (Pansa) said this morning.

“In connection with the need to ensure freedom of action for military aviation, airports in Rzeszow and Lublin have suspended flight operations,” the agency on X.

Russia is watching with glee as US president Donald Trump’s threats to take control of Greenland widen a split with his European allies.

The Kremlin said Trump would “go down in history” if he took control of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.

“There are international experts who believe that by resolving the issue of Greenland’s incorporation, Trump will certainly go down in history. And not only in the history of the United States, but also in world history,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

“It’s hard not to agree with these experts,” he said.

President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev hailed the “collapse of the transatlantic union”, while former president Dmitry Medvedev joked about Europe getting poorer.

Russia has been muted in its criticism of Trump in recent weeks as it seeks to ensure any end to the war in Ukraine is defined on Moscow’s terms, even though he has carried out or threatened military activity against traditional Russian allies Venezuela and Iran.

Donald Trump has said his European counterparts should focus their attentions on the war in Ukraine rather than his attempts to seize control of Greenland from Denmark.

“Europe ought to focus on the war with Russia and Ukraine because, frankly, you see what that’s gotten them,” Trump told NBC News. “That’s what Europe should focus on – not Greenland,” he said.

On being asked if he will implement his plans to punish European countries with his tariffs if a Greenland deal fails to go through, Trump said: “I will, 100%.”

His remarks come after Sir Keir Starmer said it was “completely wrong” for Trump to threaten tariffs against countries who oppose his attempts to take control of Greenland.

The PM said the dispute over Greenland, which Mr Trump wants to take over because of its strategic Arctic location and mineral wealth, should be resolved through “calm discussion between allies” rather than by military action or a trade war.

Donald Trump’s peevish narcissism is Russia’s greatest asset. And while the US president’s myopic view of Greenland dominates geopolitics, it distracts from what is going on thousands of miles away to the east.

World affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:

US president Donald Trump said he has invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to be a member of his “Board of Peace” initiative aimed at resolving global conflict.

“He’s been invited,” Trump told reporters, without detailing if the Russian leader has responded to or accepted his invite.

Donald Trump has sought to recruit dozens of world leaders to roles on his board, including Tony Blair, as part of phase two of an ambitious peace plan to end the Israel-Hamas war and rebuild Gaza.

The Kremlin first reported the development yesterday, claiming Putin had been approached.

“Putin received an invitation through diplomatic channels to join the board of peace,” the Russian president’s longtime press secretary Dmitry Peskov announced, adding: “We are studying all the details of this proposal, including hoping to contact the American side to clarify all the nuances.”

Russia is preparing for more strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities, including those that ensure smooth operations of nuclear power plants, Ukrainian energy minister Denys Shmyhal said.

“Just had an important conversation with @rafaelmgrossi. I informed him about [Russia’s] preparations for another massive attack on energy infrastructure, including facilities and networks that ensure the operation of NPPs (nuclear power plants).

“We agreed to jointly hear briefings from the heads of [Ukrainian] NPPs and the leaders of @IAEAorg missions in the near future,” he said on X.

Shmyhal said the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA – an intergovernmental agency that promotes the safe use of nuclear energy – was working to send a new expert mission to Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, including to the Zaporizhzhia plant, which is currently occupied by Russia.

Russia claimed to have taken control of two settlements in Ukraine on Monday.

The defence ministry said forces had taken Pavlivka, in the Zaporizhzhia region, and Novopavlivka, in the Donetsk region.

The Independent could not independently verify the battlefield report.

The UN nuclear watchdog said the 330-kilovolt (kV) Ferosplavna-1 line was reconnected to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after a ceasefire was observed in the area.

The Ferosplavna-1 line is one of two high-voltage lines supplying electricity to the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, and was disconnected earlier this month.

“The 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 back up line was reconnected to Ukraine’s ZNPP at 19:17 local time today after successful repair work was carried out by Ukrainian technicians under an IAEA-brokered ceasefire,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a post on X.

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has captured a Russian soldier accused of allegedly shooting and killing nine Ukrainian prisoners of war in Kursk oblast in October 2024, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Zelensky shared the report after his briefing with SBU’s first deputy chief Oleksandr Poklad yesterday.

“The Russian serviceman responsible for the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war in October of last year in the Kursk region has been taken captive,” Zelensky said. “Every Russian murderer must be held accountable for their actions. And so it will be. We are also countering Russian sabotage in the rear,” he said.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office started investigation into reports of Russian soldiers killing Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered as prisoners, in violation of Geneva Convention on war crimes.