Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky sends fresh message to Trump after Florida talks

Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has left talks between Ukraine and the US in Florida to visit Kyiv, where he is set to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin.

A White House official said Witkoff would be joined by Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner for his trip to Russia.

Fiona Hill, a former White House adviser, tells The Independent that the Russian president is manipulating his US counterpart and has no intention of stopping the war in Ukraine:

US special envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Moscow to discuss peace prospects for the war in Ukraine this week.

Ahead of the visit, sources claimed that Russia could be offered US recognition of occupied territories in exchange for a peace deal.

Read the claims in full – and what it would mean for Ukraine:

Russia and Saudi Arabia on Monday signed an agreement to implement a visa-free regime for tourists and business people from the two countries for up to 90 days.

The deal was signed on the sidelines of the Saudi-Russian Investment and Business Forum in Riyadh.

With the US president seemingly more concerned with getting a peace deal signed than the details of its contents, experts tell Arpan Rai what the agreement must include to prevent the future destruction of Ukraine:

Here’s what’s in his busy itinerary:

Four people were killed and 40 wounded in a Russian missile attack on the eastern-central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Monday, Ukrainian officials said.

Vladyslav Haivanenko, the acting governor of the surrounding Dnipropetrovsk region, said on Telegram that 11 of those injured in the strike were in a serious condition. He said the search and rescue operation had been completed.

Ukraine’s emergency services said car service stations, other businesses, an office building and 49 cars were all damaged in the attack.

The industrial city of Dnipro and the surrounding region have faced repeated Russian missile and drone attacks that have killed civilians and damaged housing, industry and infrastructure.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas spoke to reporters in Brussels on Monday following a meeting of the bloc’s defence and foreign minsters.

She expressed her concern that the upcoming US-Russia talks could end up with Ukraine having to make yet more concessions, like being pressured to give up territory.

“I’m afraid that all the pressure will be put on the victim, which is that Ukraine has to make concessions and obligations,” Kallas told reporters in Brussels.

“It’s the United Nations charter that says that you can’t change borders by force. If this pays off, we will see this elsewhere all around the world,” she warned.

“Whoever has the power gets to take what they want.”

She said she and her peers would be focusing on supporting Ukraine and finding an end to the war without rewarding aggression.

“The goal is to have a just and durable peace, not a deal that lays ground for the next war,” she said.

The leaders of Britain and France joined Ukraine’s Zelensky in conversation with officials following the latest peace talks in Florida over the weekend.

Zelensky said on social media on Monday that he, Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron had spoken with the head of Ukraine’s delegation, Rustem Umerov, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff.

“It was an important briefing, and we agreed to discuss more details in person—our teams will coordinate schedules for possible further contacts,” he said.