Vladimir Putin has claimed he is willing to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky but only for a “final phase” of talks.
He told international news outlets in St Petersburg that he would only join the talks to finally “put an end” to the conflict.
It is not the first time - nor will it be the last - that Putin has supposedly signalled a desire to end the war. Ukraine and its western backers say he is simply playing for time, appealing to Donald Trump while continuing to relentlessly bomb Ukraine in the meantime.
Dozens of civilians have been killed in Ukraine in recent weeks following a surge in Russian aerial attacks.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said this morning it had been 100 days of Russia “manipulating … opportunities to end the war”, referencing Kyiv’s acceptance of a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire back in March and Moscow’s refusal to agree to it.
“100 days of Russian manipulations and missed opportunities to end the war. 100 days of Russia escalating terror against Ukraine rather than ending it,” Mr Sybiha wrote on X.
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Key Points
- Trump tells Putin to 'do him a favour' and end Ukraine conflict before looking to Iran
- Putin says Trump is right about Ukraine war not starting if he was president
- Putin cautions Germany over Taurus missile supplies to Ukraine
- Europeans 'should learn Russian' if Kyiv doesn't get more support, says EU top diplomat
- Kyiv rescuers find more bodies as death toll from latest Russian attack climbs to 28
Nato 'cuts back leaders' summit to avoid Trump walkout' - reports
14:00
,
Daniel Keane
Nato has cut back next week's leaders' summit to just one working session in a bid to avoid Donald Trump walking out early, according to reports.
Earlier this week, the President left aa G7 meeting to deal with the crisis between Iran and Israel.
Nato has scaled down its plans for the event, which was originally supposed to take place over three days, to just one two-and-a-half hour working session, the FT reported.
Ukrainian secures release of group of POWs
13:30
,
Daniel Keane
Ukraine secured the release of a group of POWs in its latest round of swaps with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday.
The group exchanged on Thursday included prisoners who were injured or sick, many of whom had been held captive since the early months of Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion, according to Kyiv's coordinating council for POWs.
Visa schemes in UK leave Ukraine’s war refugees in limbo
12:00
,
Tom Watling
Lidiia, a 36-year-old Ukrainian refugee, is facing the daunting prospect of returning to her war-torn homeland after rebuilding her life in Britain. Fleeing Ukraine in 2022 with her newborn and toddler, she now fears that the lack of a clear path to permanent residency will force her back next year.
"Even if they say there's a ceasefire ... I will have in my mind that in five, six years, (the Russians) are going to be back," she said. "And then my son will have to be a soldier. My daughter might be killed or raped."
Mapped: Russia's invasion of Ukraine
11:00
,
Tom Watling
From Uganda to Gaza, Sudan to Ukraine, children are paying the price of a global failure of empathy
10:00
,
Tom Watling
Trump disbands US group that looked for ways to pressure Russia into peace talks with Ukraine
09:00
,
Tom Watling
President Donald Trump’s administration disbanded a working group tasked with finding ways to pressure Russia into having peace talks with Ukraine, according to a report.
Efforts from the inter-agency working group came to a screeching halt when members realized Trump was not interested in taking a tougher stance with Moscow, three U.S. officials told Reuters.
“It lost steam toward the end because the president wasn’t there. Instead of doing more, maybe he wanted to do less,” one official said.
As Putin ramps up his summer offensive in Ukraine, will he succeed?
08:22
,
Tom Watling
A peevish spokesman for Vladimir Putin bristled with indignation recently at Donald Trump’s description of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “like kids fighting in the park”.
Not so, Dmitry Peskov pouted; the conflict is an “existential question” for Russia.
“This is a question of our security and the future of ourselves and our children, the future of our country,” continued Putin’s spokesman, who has grown more accustomed to preening with pleasure at the relentless assaults on Ukraine from the White House this year.
Read our full piece from our world affairs editor Sam Kiley below.
It’s been 100 days of Russian manipulation, says Ukraine
08:15
,
Tom Watling
It’s been 100 days since Ukraine accepted a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Kyiv but Moscow is still refusing to cooperate, Ukraine’s foreign minister has said.
“It has been exactly 100 days since Russia has been rejecting this basic first step toward peace,” Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.
“100 days of Russian manipulations and missed opportunities to end the war. 100 days of Russia escalating terror against Ukraine rather than ending it.
“Ukraine remains committed to peace. Unfortunately, Russia continues to choose war, disregarding U.S. efforts to end the killing.”
It has been exactly 100 days since Ukraine unconditionally accepted the US peace proposal to completely cease fire, put an end to the killing, and move forward with a genuine peace process.
— Andrii Sybiha (@andrii_sybiha) June 19, 2025
It has been exactly 100 days since Russia has been rejecting this basic first step toward…
North Korea will send 5,000 military construction workers to Russia, Kremlin says
07:49
,
Tom Watling
North Korea is sending 5,000 military construction workers and 1,000 sappers to Russia’s Kursk oblast, where Moscow is repairing widespread damage from a Ukrainian incursion, according to a top Kremlin official.
Presidential security adviser Sergei Shoigu said the workers would help rebuild the strategic border region, which was invaded by the Ukrainian military last August and retaken by Russian forces earlier this year.
The dispatch of the workers was discussed in Mr Shoigu’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, state media outlet KCNA reported on Wednesday.
Russia fired 104 drones at Ukraine, says air force
07:21
,
Tom Watling
Russia has fired 104 drones at Ukraine overnight, Kyiv’s air force has reported.
In an update on Telegram early this morning, Kyiv’s air force said Russia had fired 104 drones at targets across the north, east, south and centre of Ukraine.
They said they shot down 40 and an additional 48 “were lost or suppressed by electronic warfare”.
Russia has ramped up its aerial attacks over the past few weeks, as Ukraine warns that Moscow plans to strike civilian energy infrastructure.
Recap: Trump rebuffs Putin's offer to mediate between Iran and Israel
06:47
,
Adam Withnall
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered on Wednesday to help mediate an end to the conflict between Israel and Iran, suggesting Moscow could help negotiate a settlement that could allow Tehran to pursue a peaceful atomic program while assuaging Israeli security concerns.
Speaking to senior editors from international news agencies, Putin noted that "it's a delicate issue," but added that "in my view, a solution could be found."
Asked how Russia would react if Israel kills Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Putin refused to answer, saying that "I don't even want to discuss such a possibility."
Putin said he shared Moscow's proposals with Iran, Israel and the United States, and his comments follow a mediation offer that he made in a call with Donald Trump last weekend.
But Trump said later on Wednesday that he told Putin to stay focused on finding an endgame to his own conflict with Ukraine.
"I said, 'Do me a favor, mediate your own,"' Trump said he told Putin. "I said, 'Vladimir, let's mediate Russia first. You can worry about this later."'
The comments represented a shift for Trump, who earlier this week said he was "open" to Putin's offer to mediate in the Middle East.
Russian forces seize two Ukrainian villages, defence ministry claims
06:05
,
Arpan Rai
Russian forces took control of two villages in Ukraine, its defence ministry has claimed.
Vladimir Putin’s forces claim to have seized Dovhenke in the eastern Kharkiv region and Novomykolaivka in the northeast Sumy region.
The Independent could not independently verify the battlefield reports.
Trump tells Putin to 'do him a favour' and end Ukraine conflict before looking to Iran
05:37
,
Arpan Rai
Donald Trump has said he told Vladimir Putin to stay focused on finding an endgame to his own conflict with Ukraine after the Russian president offered to mediate between Israel and Iran.
"I said, 'Do me a favor, mediate your own,’” Mr Trump said he told the Russian president."I said, 'Vladimir, let's mediate Russia first. You can worry about this later’,” he said.
The US president said earlier this week that the Russian president offered to serve as a mediator with Iran, and initially suggested he was "open" to the idea.
Putin says Trump is right about Ukraine war not starting if he was president
04:57
,
Arpan Rai
Russian president Vladimir Putin has backed president Donald Trump's claim that Russia's conflict in Ukraine would not have taken place if Mr Trump had been in the White House at the time.
“If Trump had been the president, the conflict indeed might not have erupted,” Putin said.
In September last year, before he became the president, Mr Trump said: “...take a look at the war happening right now in Ukraine. It would have never happened if I were president to start off with. And there didn't even have to be a settlement.”
“It wouldn't have happened, period. Russia wouldn't have gotten in. And I spoke to Putin about it a lot,” he said.
Mr Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
It has recently intensified its aerial campaign and stepped up ground attacks along the more than 1,000-kilometre frontline.
Mr Putin has effectively rejected Mr Trump's offer of an immediate 30-day ceasefire, making it conditional on a halt on Ukraine's mobilisation effort and a freeze on Western arms supplies.
Putin cautions Germany over Taurus missile supplies to Ukraine
04:38
,
Arpan Rai
Russian president Vladimir Putin has cautioned Germany that Moscow would consider it to be directly involved in the war in Ukraine if Berlin supplied Kyiv with Taurus cruise missiles, but said he was ready to speak to chancellor Friedrich Merz.
German defence minister Boris Pistorius said earlier this month that Germany is not considering delivering Taurus cruise missiles, which have a range in excess of 300 miles (480km), to Ukraine despite Kyiv's repeated requests.
Mr Putin said that to fire the Taurus missiles, Ukraine would need Western satellite intelligence and German officers to take care of targeting which, if they were fired at Russia, would mean German officers striking Russian territory.
"What is this, if not the involvement of the Federal Republic in a direct armed conflict with the Russian Federation? It can't be called anything else," the Russian president told senior news agency editors in the northern Russian city of St Petersburg.
Mr Putin added that even if Germany did supply the missiles, it would have no impact on the ultimate course of the war, adding that Russian troops were advancing in all directions.
Asked if he was willing to speak to Mr Merz, Mr Putin, a fluent German speaker who served as a KGB spy in former East Germany, said he was ready to.
"If the Federal Chancellor wants to call and talk, I have already said this many times – we do not refuse any contacts. And we are always open to this," Putin said.
Mr Putin added, though, that he did not consider that Germany was a neutral mediator when it came to the war in Ukraine given the presence of German tanks on the battlefield.
"We consider the Federal Republic, just like many other European countries, not a neutral state, but as a party supporting Ukraine, and in some cases, perhaps, as accomplices in these hostilities," he said.
Europeans 'should learn Russian' if Kyiv doesn't get more support, says EU top diplomat
04:34
,
Arpan Rai
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas spoke yesterday during a debate in the European parliament.
“We have to do more for Ukraine, for our own security too,” she told MEPs, according to The Guardian.
“To quote my friend Nato secretary general Mark Rutte: if we don’t help Ukraine further, we should all start learning Russian.
“The stronger Ukraine is on the battlefield today, the stronger they will be around the negotiation table when Russia finally is ready to talk.”
Ms Kallas told the parliament that Europe is living in “very dangerous, tough times” and that Russia is “already a direct threat to the European Union”.
Kyiv rescuers find more bodies as death toll from latest Russian attack climbs to 28
04:10
,
Arpan Rai
Emergency workers pulled more bodies from the rubble of a nine-story Kyiv apartment building demolished by a Russian missile, raising the death toll from the latest attack on the Ukrainian capital to 28.
The building in Kyiv's Solomianskyi district took a direct hit and collapsed during the deadliest Russian attack on Kyiv this year.
Authorities said that 23 of those killed were inside the building.
The remaining five died elsewhere in the city. Workers used cranes, excavators and their hands to clear more debris from the site, while sniffer dogs searched for buried victims.
The blast blew out windows and doors in neighboring buildings in a wide radius of damage.
The attack overnight on Monday into Tuesday was part of a sweeping barrage as Russia once again sought to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences.
Russia fired more than 440 drones and 32 missiles in what Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky said was one of the biggest bombardments of the war, now in its fourth year.
Putin says he is ready to meet Zelensky but refuses his legitimacy
04:06
,
Arpan Rai
Russian president Vladimir Putin has said he is ready to meet everyone, including his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, for talks to end the war.
"We are ready to meet, as I said, by the way, I am ready to meet with everyone, including Zelensky. Yes, that's not the question,” he said, in comments to senior news agency editors on the conflict between Iran and Israel, Nato and the war in Ukraine.
"If the Ukrainian state trusts someone to negotiate, for God's sake, let it be Zelensky. That's not the question. The question is who will sign the documents... When dealing with serious issues, it is important for us not to have a propaganda component, but a legal one," the Russian leader said.
He added: "But the point must be made, the signature must be from the legitimate authorities, otherwise, you know, the next one will come and throw it all in the bin. But you can't do that either, we're dealing with serious issues. That's why I'm not giving up on this, but a lot of work needs to be done.”