
Russia open to peace with Ukraine but ‘our goals' must be achieved, says Kremlin
Mr Peskov and other Russian officials have repeatedly rejected accusations from Kyiv and its western partners of stalling peace talks.
Meanwhile, Moscow continues to intensify its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities, with more drones launched in a single night than during some entire months in 2024, and analysts say the barrages are likely to escalate.
Mr Peskov told state TV reporter Pavel Zarubin: '(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin has repeatedly spoken of his desire to bring the Ukrainian settlement to a peaceful conclusion as soon as possible. This is a long process, it requires effort, and it is not easy.
'The main thing for us is to achieve our goals. Our goals are clear.'
The Kremlin has insisted any peace deal should see Ukraine withdraw from the four regions that Russia illegally annexed in September 2022 but never fully captured. It also wants Ukraine to renounce its bid to join Nato and accept strict limits on its armed forces, demands Kyiv and its Western allies have rejected.
In his nightly address on Saturday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said his officials had proposed a new round of peace talks this week.
Russian state media reported on Sunday that no date had yet been set for the negotiations but that Istanbul would likely remain the host city.
Mr Trump threatened Russia on July 14 with steep tariffs and announced a rejuvenated pipeline for American weapons to reach Ukraine, hardening his stance towards Moscow after months of frustration following unsuccessful negotiations aimed at ending the war.
The direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Istanbul resulted in several rounds of prisoner exchanges, but little else.
Mr Trump said he would implement 'severe tariffs' unless a peace deal is reached within 50 days. He provided few details on how they would be implemented, but suggested they would target Russia's trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow in the global economy.
In addition, Mr Trump said European allies would buy 'billions and billions' of dollars of US military equipment to be transferred to Ukraine, replenishing the besieged country's supplies of weapons. Included in the plan are Patriot air defence systems, a top priority for Ukraine as it fends off Russian drones and missiles.
Doubts were recently raised about Mr Trump's commitment to supply Ukraine when the Pentagon paused shipments over concerns that US stockpiles were running low.
Elsewhere, Ukraine's air force said it shot down 18 of 57 Shahed-type and decoy drones launched by Russia overnight into Sunday, with seven more disappearing from radar.
Two women were injured in Zaporizhzhia, a southern Ukrainian region partly occupied by Russia, when a drone struck their house, according to the regional military administration.
Two more civilians were injured in Izium, north-eastern Ukraine, after a drone hit a residential building, local Ukrainian officials said.
Later on Sunday, drones struck a leafy square in the centre of Sumy, wounding a woman and her seven-year-old son, officials said.
The strike also damaged a power line, leaving some 100 households without electricity, according to Serhii Krivosheienko of the municipal military administration.
Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry said its forces had shot down 93 Ukrainian drones targeting Russian territory overnight, including at least 15 that appeared to be headed for Moscow.
Ten more drones were downed on the approach to the capital on Sunday, according to mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

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The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Protests in Ukraine after Zelensky approves bill curbing autonomy of anti-corruption agencies
Hundreds of people gathered in Ukraine's capital Kyiv to lodge their protest with the Volodymyr Zelensky's administration for passing a controversial bill tightening restrictions on its anti-corruption agencies, presenting the war-hit nation with its biggest domestic turmoil since the Russian invasion in February 2022. Ukraine's parliament on Tuesday passed amendments to allow the country's general prosecutor, appointed by the president, strict control over two anti-corruption bodies – the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (Nabu) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (Sapo). President Zelensky, whose party holds a majority in parliament, approved the amendments late on Tuesday. The changes would allow the general prosecutor to transfer cases from the agencies and reassign prosecutors. The move has alarmed the country as this could result in granting more power to Ukraine's chief prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko, also seen as a Zelensky loyalist, to reassign corruption probes to investigators of their preference. Shortly after the bill was cleared in parliament, hundreds of people gathered in Kyiv carried placards to protest. Protests also broke out in other cities like Dnipro, Lviv and Odesa. 'We chose Europe, not autocracy,' read one placard by a demonstrator. Another read: 'My father did not die for this.' The vote was denounced on social media as a betrayal of Ukraine's decade-long geopolitical ambition. The protests echoed the long-standing sentiment of fighting corruption in Ukraine as critical to erasing a legacy of Russian rule. Vladyslava Kirstyuk, 18, said memories of her childhood in occupied eastern Ukraine, after Russia's covert invasion in 2014, left a strong impression. "I know what it means for one person to have all the power, when nothing is transparent and everything is working against you," she said. "I don't want it to be the same for us here." Mr Zelensky also said he had spoken to Nabu chief Semen Kryvonos and other top prosecutors. Mr Kryvonos had urged the Ukrainian president to not sign the fast-tracked bill, which he called an attempt to "destroy" Ukraine's anti-corruption infrastructure. The two agencies – Nabu and Sapo were set up in the country after the 2014 Maidan revolution toppled a pro-Russian president and set Kyiv on a Western course. They are credited for their work to tackle corruption and graft in Ukraine during the war, levelling charges against lawmakers, ministers and a former deputy head of Zelensky's administration. 'Last week, we ran an editorial warning of an anti-democratic backslide in Ukraine. Today, it's happening in plain sight. This isn't what our people have been fighting and dying for, and it's devastatingly unfair to them,' said Olga Rudenko, the chief editor of Ukrainian publication The Kyiv Independent. Ukraine is also facing backlash from anti-graft campaigners who have been alarmed since the government charged a top anti-corruption activist this month with fraud and evading military service. The move has been dubbed as political retribution by authorities for exposing corrupt officials. Rooting out endemic corruption and graft is critical for Ukraine to join the European Union and also a key condition to receive western aid at a time the country is battered by war. The European Union enlargement commissioner Marta Kos said she was "seriously concerned" by Tuesday's vote. "The dismantling of key safeguards protecting NABU's independence is a serious step back," she said, adding that rule of law was at "the very centre" of EU accession talks.


Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Putin's show of strength to the West: Russia carries out huge wargames in Baltic and Caspian seas with 150 warships and 15,000 troops ahead of peace talks with Ukraine today
Russia launched major navy drills around the world today, deploying more than 150 vessels and 15,000 military personnel in the Pacific and Arctic oceans and in the Baltic and Caspian seas as peace talks with Ukraine were set to get underway. The so-called 'July Storm' exercise from July 23 to July 27 will test the readiness of the fleet for non-standard operations, the use of long-range weapons and other advanced technology, including unmanned systems, Russia's defence ministry said. 'At sea, the crews of the ships will practice deployment to combat areas, conducting anti-submarine operations, defending areas of deployment and economic activity,' a statement read. They will also practice 'repelling attacks by air attack weapons, unmanned boats and enemy drones, ensuring the safety of navigation, striking enemy targets and naval groups', under the supervision of Navy chief Admiral Alexander Moiseev. Besides the naval vessels, more than 120 aircraft will also take part in the drills along with 10 coastal missile systems, displaying Moscow 's aerial prowess. It comes as a delegation of eight Russian officials gets set to meet their Ukrainian counterparts in the Turkish city of Istanbul for a third round of direct peace talks. But there is little hope the negotiations will yield significant results, and the Kremlin earlier this week sought to play down expectations. Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters: 'There is no reason to expect any breakthroughs in the category of miracles... it is hardly possible in the current situation. 'We intend to pursue our interests, we intend to ensure our interests and fulfil the tasks that we set for ourselves from the very beginning.' Asked if he could give a sense of how the Kremlin saw the potential time frame of a possible peace agreement, Peskov said he could give no guidance on timing. 'There is a lot of work to be done before we can talk about the possibility of some top-level meetings,' Peskov added, a day after Zelensky renewed a call for a meeting with Vladimir Putin. The Russian President has thus far spurned Zelensky's offers of a face-to-face meeting to end Europe's biggest conflict since World War II. But the Ukrainian leader insists that lower-level delegations like the ones expected for talks in Istanbul today simply do not have the political heft to stop the fighting on their own. The sides remain far apart on how to end the war begun by Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. The Russian President has repeatedly declared that any peace deal should see Ukraine withdraw from the four regions that Russia illegally annexed in September 2022. He also wants Ukraine to renounce its bid to join NATO and accept strict limits on its armed forces - demands Kyiv and its Western allies have rejected. 'Ukraine never wanted this war, and it is Russia that must end the war that it itself started,' Zelensky said in a Telegram post as he called for a sit-down with Putin. But Peskov said Tuesday that 'a lot of work needs to be done before having a detailed discussion on the possibility of high-level meetings,' effectively scrapping hopes of a summit to bring Zelensky and Putin together any time soon. Ukrainian and Western officials have accused the Kremlin of stalling in talks in order for its bigger army to capture more Ukrainian land. Moscow's forces are currently in control of roughly 20% of Ukraine's landmass. Indeed, sources in the Kremlin told Reuters last week that Putin intends to simply seize more Ukrainian territory and believes his nation, which has thus far survived the toughest sanctions imposed by the West, can endure further economic hardship. 'Putin thinks no one has seriously engaged with him on the details of peace in Ukraine - including the Americans - so he will continue until he gets what he wants,' one source said. Russian analysts have said Moscow's forces will aim to bleed Ukraine dry with a strategy of 'a thousand cuts,' using drones and meat grinder assaults to relentlessly pressure many sectors of the front while increasing long-range aerial attacks against key infrastructure. Since spring, Russian troops have accelerated their land gains, capturing the most territory in eastern Ukraine since the opening stages of Moscow's full-scale invasion in 2022. DeepState Map, a Ukrainian open-source live mapping service, suggests Putin's soldiers have managed to secure 1,415 square kilometres (546 square miles) of land in the past three months. Now, they're closing in on the eastern strongholds of Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region, methodically capturing villages near both cities to try to cut key supply routes and envelop their defenders. Capturing those strongholds would allow Russia to push toward Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, setting the stage for the seizure of the entire Donetsk region. If Russian troops seize those last strongholds, it would open the way for them to forge westward to the Dnipropetrovsk region. The regional capital of Dnipro, a major industrial hub of nearly 1 million, is about 150 kilometres (90 miles) west of Russian positions. Putin's troops are also already in control of the entire Luhansk region, along with more than 70% of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, and small parts of the Kharkiv region, where they are encircling Lyman and Kupiansk. Russia's battlefield success of late is due in part to Ukraine's manpower and ammunition shortages after more than three years of brutal war, but can also be attributed in part to a refinement of frontline tactics, specifically the use of drones. Petro, a senior sergeant with the 38th Marine Brigade fighting near Pokrovsk, told the Kyiv Independent last week that his unit is experiencing a 'huge problem' with Russia's use of drones and glide bombs. Rather than relying on tanks and armoured vehicles to grind forward as they did earlier in the war, Russian forces are increasingly deploying swarms of first-person view (FPV) drones to bombard Ukrainian positions and limit the mobility of defenders. Roman Pohorilyi, co-founder of DeepState Map, added that Shahed-type attack drones are also being used along the contact line, not just to launch attacks on infrastructure. But groups of unfortunate foot soldiers are nonetheless forced to pile in behind them in a mad dash to overwhelm the defensive lines - a tactic Petro described as 'meat assaults in small groups'. 'Three (Russian soldiers) advance, two are killed, and one reaches the trench.' A view of the destruction after Russian forces launched a missile attack on the Kyivskyi district of Kharkiv Since Donald Trump's return to the White House in January, the US and Russian leaders have shared several personal phone calls. Trump also dispatched special envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow for a diplomatic visit, and the US has proposed an unconditional ceasefire - but these actions have yielded no results. Moscow's escalating attacks on Ukraine have tested Trump's patience, and his temper boiled over last week during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office. 'We are very, very unhappy with [Russia], and we're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 per cent,' he threatened. 'I'm disappointed in President Putin. I thought we would've had a deal two months ago,' he went on, in reference to the US-proposed ceasefire that Kyiv accepted but was rejected by Moscow. Perhaps more consequentially, Trump also threatened to levy secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian exports to discourage them from keeping funds flowing into the Kremlin's war chest, should the conflict continue beyond the 50-day deadline. Until now, the US and its European allies have declined to impose measures that would restrict Russia from exporting its oil and gas elsewhere. Such a move would constitute a dramatic ramping up of Western efforts to back Ukraine as it would likely see Washington and the EU target countries such as China, India and NATO member Turkey, all of whom import huge quantities of Russian energy. In response, leading Russian propagandist Igor Korotchenko said Moscow must use the 50-day period before sanctions are imposed to win the war by dramatically increasing the intensity of attacks across the border. Korotchenko, a former colonel-turned-military analyst and editor-in-chief of National Defence magazine, told state-TV: 'Weakening the potential of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' rear support system will force Ukraine to accept Russia's terms. 'It is necessary to intensify Russian strikes… to the maximum extent possible. Scaling up this approach, we can achieve success.'


The Independent
42 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Anti-corruption protests target Zelensky in Kyiv ahead of crucial peace talks
Anti-government protests have broken out in Kyiv as hundreds flocked to the streets to oppose a decision to curb the powers of two anti-corruption agencies. Ukraine has toughened restrictions on the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. Amendments approved by Volodymyr Zelensky's party yesterday have rolled back the agencies' autonomy in favour of tighter executive control, a move the Ukrainian president says is needed to rid the organisations of 'Russian influence'. Angry protesters held signs reading 'F*** corruption' and 'Corruption = Death' while chanting 'Ukraine is not Russia'. Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv and a prominent political opponent of Mr Zelensky, was among the protesters. Marta Kos, the EU's enlargement commissioner, said the move was a 'serious step back' for Kyiv's membership hopes, while French European affairs minister Benjamin Haddad said it 'not too late' for Kyiv to reverse the decision. It comes as a third round of talks is set to take place in Istanbul, Turkey after previous summits in May and June failed to yield any results, except agreement on swapping prisoners of war. Russian forces launched 71 Shahed drones at Ukraine overnight, Kyiv's air force has said. A total of 26 drones struck their targets but the rest failed to reach their destination. Here is what the air force said in its morning report, according to Ukrainska Pravda: As of 09:00, air defence systems have shot down or jammed 27 Russian Shahed-type UAVs (and other types) in the north, east and centre of the country. Another 18 UAVs disappeared from radar or were suppressed by electronic warfare. A total of 26 UAV impacts were recorded in 14 locations and debris from downed drones fell in five locations. Drones were launched from Russia's Kursk, Millerovo and Primorsko-Akhtarsk regions, and targeted Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions, the air force added. Alex Croft23 July 2025 09:15 In pictures: Russia carries out 'July Storm' Navy test Alex Croft23 July 2025 08:43 France calls on Ukraine to reverse decision on anti-corruption agencies We've just heard from Benjamin Haddad, France's European Affairs minister, who said it is not too late for Ukraine to reverse its decision to roll back the autonomy of two anti-corruption agencies at the centre of the country's reform drive. Amendments passed yesterday grant the general prosecutor, appointed by the president, strict control over the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, several lawmakers said. The decision by Ukraine's executive has prompted protests in Kyiv and other cities across the country "It is not too late to go back on this," Haddad told France Inter radio. "We will be extremely vigilant on the subject." Alex Croft23 July 2025 08:17 Russia begins major 'July Storm' navy drill with 15,00 troops Russia has began huge navy drills with more than 150 vessels and 15,000 troops in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, the defence ministry said. The 'July Storm' exercise will test the readiness of Russia's fleet for non-standard operations, including the use of long-range weapons and other advanced technologies, the ministry said. "At sea, the crews of the ships will practice deployment to combat areas, conducting anti-submarine operations, defending areas of deployment and economic activity,' it added. The will also practice "repelling attacks by air attack weapons, unmanned boats and enemy drones, ensuring the safety of navigation, striking enemy targets and naval groups'. More than 120 aircraft will take part and 10 coastal missile systems, the ministry said. Navy chief, Admiral Alexander Moiseev, will lead the exercise. Russia has the world's third most powerful navy after China and the United States, according to most public rankings, though the navy has suffered a series of high-profile losses in the Ukraine war. Alex Croft23 July 2025 07:47 Ukraine's military loses first French Mirage fighter jet in crash A Mirage 2000 fighter jet supplied to Ukraine from France crashed yesterday after experiencing equipment failure during an assignment, with the pilot ejecting safely, Ukraine's military said. It was the first loss of a Mirage jet since Ukraine's military started receiving them earlier this year. "Equipment failure occurred, which the pilot reported to the flight controller," a military statement said on Telegram. "The pilot then acted competently, as is expected in crisis situations, and successfully ejected. A rescue crew found the pilot in a stable condition. There were no casualties on the ground." Ukrainian news reports said the incident occurred in the northwestern Volyn region. Ukraine's military announced the arrival of the first batch of Mirage aircraft in February. Arpan Rai23 July 2025 07:15 Zelensky offers to meet Putin as Russia casts doubt on peace talks Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has renewed his call to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin face to face as Russia cast doubt on fresh peace talks being held this week. Mr Zelensky said Ukraine was working to 'prepare a leaders' meeting aimed at truly bringing this war to an end', as the Kremlin said it did not expect any breakthroughs from fresh negotiations being held in Istanbul on Wednesday. 'Our position is fully transparent. Ukraine never wanted this war, and it is Russia that must end the war that it started,' the Ukrainian president said. In May, Mr Zelensky challenged the Russian leader to meet him, saying he would be waiting in Turkey for him 'personally'. But on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was unlikely to agree to a peace deal and would continue 'pursuing our interests'. Arpan Rai23 July 2025 06:59 Ukraine military intelligence chief posts cryptic message after law on anti-corruption agencies passed Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov shared a cryptic message warning against infighting on his Telegram after Ukraine cleared a new law threatening the autonomy of the country's anti-corruption bodies. "Ukrainian history has taught us — a nation loses if it is torn apart by internal contradictions," Mr Budanov wrote in a post on his Telegram channel. "We have one common trouble, one enemy. Therefore, internal contradictions should be resolved through open dialogue to achieve a single common goal — to defend our country. I am confident that Ukraine will be saved by a strong military and institutions," Mr Budanov said. Arpan Rai23 July 2025 06:57 Russia says 33 Ukrainian drones destroyed overnight Russia's air defence systems destroyed 33 Ukrainian drones overnight in six regions, the Russian defence ministry said on its Telegram channel this morning. Most of these drones were downed near the border region between Ukraine and Russia, the ministry said. Arpan Rai23 July 2025 06:29 Ukraine allies looking for solutions in EU on Patriots, German minister says Ukraine's allies are looking to see whether some member states in the European Union could supply Ukraine with five Patriot missile defence systems, of which Germany is willing to finance two, Germany's defence minister Boris Pistorius said this morning. Mr Pistorius said Germany would have been willing to give two of its own systems to Ukraine but needed reassurance that it could replace them within six to eight months. "We are now looking for solutions that will allow us to identify Patriot systems in member states in Europe," he said. "So, it's not hopeless, but the prerequisite is that countries that have them are prepared to hand them over now so that others can pay for them and they can go to Ukraine," he added. Arpan Rai23 July 2025 06:14 Zelensky issues remarks after parliament votes on anti-corruption bodies In his nightly video address, issued well after midnight, Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken to National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine chief Semen Kryvonos and other top prosecutors. Anti-corruption bodies, he said, would continue to function "but without any Russian influence. It all must be cleansed.' "There must be more justice. Of course, NABU and SAPO [Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office] will continue their work," he said. "It's also important that the prosecutor general be committed to ensuring real accountability for those who break the law. This is what Ukraine truly needs." Mr Kryvonos had urged the Ukrainian president not to sign the fast-tracked bill, which he called an attempt to "destroy" Ukraine's anti-corruption infrastructure. Arpan Rai