Russia and Ukraine to hold first peace talks in seven weeks
Russia played down expectations of any breakthrough at the meeting, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this week should focus in part on preparing a summit between himself and President Vladimir Putin.
"Naturally, no one expects an easy road. Naturally, this will be a very difficult conversation. The projects (of the two sides) are diametrically opposed," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Previous talks in Istanbul on May 16 and June 2 led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers. But those meetings lasted less than three hours in total and made no breakthrough towards a ceasefire or a settlement to end almost three and a half years of war.
U.S. President Donald Trump last week threatened heavy new sanctions on Russia and countries that buy its exports unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days.
But three sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters that Putin, unfazed by Trump's ultimatum, would keep on fighting in Ukraine until the West engaged on his terms for peace, and that his territorial demands may widen as Russian forces advance.
On Wednesday, Russia said its forces had captured the settlement of Varachyne in Ukraine's Sumy region, where Putin has ordered his troops to create a buffer zone after Ukraine mounted a shock incursion into Russia last year and held onto a chunk of its territory for months. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.
In recent weeks, Russian forces have launched some of their heaviest air attacks of the war, focusing especially on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Ukraine has hit back with attacks of its own, and last month inflicted serious damage on Russia's nuclear-capable strategic bomber fleet by smuggling drones close to air bases deep inside the country.
Zelenskiy said earlier this week that the agenda for talks was clear: the return of prisoners of war and of children abducted by Russia, and the preparation of a meeting between himself and Putin.
Putin turned down a previous challenge from Zelenskiy to meet him in person and has said he does not see him as a legitimate leader because Ukraine, which is under martial law, did not hold new elections when Zelenskiy's five-year mandate expired last year. Russia also denies abducting children.
The Kremlin said this week it was unrealistic to expect "miracles" from the talks.
At the last meeting on June 2, Russia handed Ukraine a memorandum setting out its key demands, including: full withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from four regions of the country that Russia has claimed as its own; limits on the size of Ukraine's military; enhanced rights for Russian-speakers in Ukraine; and acceptance by Kyiv of neutral status, outside NATO or any other alliance.
Ukraine sees those terms as tantamount to surrender, and Zelenskiy described the Russian stance as an ultimatum.
Ukraine wants an immediate ceasefire, reparations, international security guarantees and no restrictions on its military strength.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Telegraph
Israel-Hamas negotiations collapse
Talks to end the war in Gaza have collapsed, bringing to an end the longest round of negotiations since the war started in October 2023. On Thursday afternoon, Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it had decided to withdraw its team from Qatar after studying Hamas's latest response to its proposals. The fresh negotiations were instigated in part due to significant pressure from Donald Trump, the US president, to reach a deal, following the perceived success of the Iran offensive in June. In recent days, leaks have suggested that the two sides were at loggerheads over the extent to which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would withdraw from Gaza once a ceasefire began, and also how aid would be distributed. It comes as the humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating, with aid agencies warning of starvation and people 'collapsing' in the street. Both sides are facing huge pressure at home and abroad to reach a deal. Sources said Hamas still wants guarantees – despite guarantees from the White House – that Israel would not start fighting again after a 60-day initial ceasefire elapsed. The breakdown comes ahead of a huge protest in Tel Aviv calling on the Israeli government to end the war and secure the release of the remaining hostages. Around 20 are believed to be alive. An official in Mr Netanyahu's office said: 'In light of the response that Hamas gave this morning, it has been decided to return the negotiating team to continue consultations in Israel. We appreciate the efforts of the mediators Qatar and Egypt and the efforts of envoy Witkoff to bring about a breakthrough in the talks.' Another senior official said: 'Negotiations will continue, but there are serious differences and we face difficult decisions.' The statement came as Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump's Middle East envoy, held talks with Ron Dermer, Mr Netanyahu's right-hand man, and the Qatari prime minister in Sardinia. It prompted hope in Israel that a way forward could still be found, despite the lack of progress in Doha. Mr Trump is known to be impatient for the war to end. One Israeli source told Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster, that the momentum of negotiations remained 'positive' and that the withdrawal of the negotiators did not signify a total collapse of dialogue. However, another source said the talks were at an impasse. Axios reported sources as saying that Hamas was insisting on the release of 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 200 serving life sentences, in return for the hostages. Earlier in the week, it had been reported that the sides had agreed on a lower number. Israeli sources said officials had told Mr Witkoff that Hamas's demands were 'unacceptable', but that they are not necessarily final. Dependent in his coalition on ultra-nationalist ministers who want to take over Gaza with Jewish settlements, Mr Netanyahu has been accused of continuing the war despite reported warnings from his generals that the military rationale is wearing thin.
Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Telegraph
Putin is preparing for another invasion while Nato is fatally distracted
At the latest Nato summit in The Hague, the alliance announced that members had set a new target of spending 5 per cent of GDP on defence and security by 2035. In part, this is likely to have been driven by a realisation that Trump envoy Steve Witkoff's shuttle diplomacy and Europe's denunciations of Vladimir Putin will not be enough to end the war in Ukraine. More fundamentally, however, members are waking up to the need to deter Russia from attacking a Nato country – which, according to Mark Rutte, the alliance's secretary-general, it could be ready to do within five years. As a military intelligence analyst specialising in Putin's thinking and Russian military strategy, I agree with Rutte's assessment about Russia's readiness for another offensive military campaign in just a few years. I'm less convinced that a Nato country is likely to be the Kremlin's next target, unless the alliance directly intervenes in Ukraine by deploying troops onto the battlefield. Nevertheless, what Nato does or doesn't do in the next few years could be highly significant in determining whether Putin decides to attack another post-Soviet state – such as Moldova. The problem is that increasing spending on defence and security-related areas will not do the trick on its own. Money and technology, the staples of the West's style of warfare, do not by themselves prevent or win wars. Strategy does. And a successful strategy must be based on a deep understanding of the opponent's way of war, addressing the key elements of its military planning. I briefed Nato members on Russia's war-fighting strategy in September 2013, just months prior to Putin's invasion of Crimea. Regrettably, no counter-strategy was developed by the Pentagon and its Nato counterparts. Hence Putin's invasions. Developed by the Russian General Staff and often dubbed 'asymmetric warfare', Russia's strategy borrows heavily from the classic works of the British strategist Sir Basil Liddell Hart. He advocated indirect methods of fighting the opponent, rather than the brute application of force. The centrepiece of this approach is to bypass the enemy's areas of strength and focus on exploiting weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Obviously, the war in Ukraine has developed into precisely the sort of conflict Russia seeks to avoid. But that doesn't mean that the Kremlin has fundamentally changed its approach to conflict, particularly when facing new opponents. Since Nato militaries are technologically superior to the Russian forces, Moscow knows it will have to rely on seizing the strategic initiative during the initial period of any future war. It will not be seeking a repeat of what has happened in Ukraine. Russian planners therefore envision undermining Nato's network-centric approach to war by disrupting its forces' 'kill chain', the process that enables military decision-making to detect, target, and destroy adversaries. This could be achieved by targeting, perhaps pre-emptively, the C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) and space systems on which Nato forces depend. So Nato members need to do more than spend money. They need to understand what the Russians consider to be the alliance's vulnerabilities, and take action to remove the Kremlin's incentive to exploit them. There are five principal areas that require action. 1. Secure space-related infrastructure Russia has a formidable arsenal of counter-space weapons, designed to degrade or destroy US and allied satellites. It includes GPS-jamming systems, lasers, orbital interceptors, and anti-satellite missiles. The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned in its 2025 Annual Threat Assessment that Russia is training its space forces, fielding new anti-satellite weapons, and is already using electronic warfare to counter Western assets. Moscow is also developing a new satellite meant to carry a nuclear weapon as an anti-satellite capability. 2. Harden critical infrastructure against cyber attacks Russia has one of the world's most destructive arsenals of cyber weapons, a sophisticated doctrine, and advanced expertise. The 2025 Annual Threat Assessment warned about Russia's repeated success in compromising sensitive targets for intelligence collection. Moscow is likely to already have access to critical infrastructure in the US and Europe. Moscow has a particular strength and practical experience in integrating cyber attacks with military operations in wartime. 3. Establish stronger protocols to guard undersea communications cables Russia's General Staff Main Directorate has a highly secretive deep sea research programme, known as GUGI. Moscow is highly likely to have put this expertise into practice, with several suspected sabotage operations of undersea cables in the Baltic Sea since the war in Ukraine began. A similar risk applies to energy pipelines. In October 2022, the UK Ministry of Defence acknowledged that a Royal Navy frigate was deployed to the North Sea to assist Norwegian forces in protecting gas pipelines, after the rupture of Nord Stream in the Baltic. 4. Bullet-proof against Russian espionage It hardly needs saying that Russia routinely infiltrates spies all across Europe and recruits locals to steal military, political, and economic secrets. But Moscow has also been able to insert intelligence operatives to conduct destabilisation operations, targeting critical infrastructure. Some estimates suggest that such sabotage operations almost quadrupled in number between 2023-24. Multiple arrests have taken place, including in Germany, Poland, and the UK. But the alliance must take a more pro-active approach, neutralising and disrupting Russia's espionage operations before they are able to do damage. 5. Establish advantage in total combat potential Having moved onto a war footing several years prior to the invasion of Ukraine, Russia now produces more ammunition in three months than Europe does in one year. Scaling up production of air defence systems, tanks, drones, and ammunition is imperative for Nato to catch up to Russia and restock its depleted arsenals. Weapons don't shoot themselves, however. The alliance must recruit, train, and equip a fighting force sufficient to change Putin's decision calculus. Moscow has been mobilising overtly and covertly throughout its three and a half year war in Ukraine. And on Tuesday, a bill was submitted to the State Duma introducing year-round conscription for military service. If approved and signed by Putin, the law will come into effect on Jan 1, 2026. In Europe, only a few countries have mandatory military service, and so far most of the others are not considering it. But in a war of attrition, such as the one Russia is fighting in Ukraine, the side that has more manpower is better positioned to win. The good news is that the alliance has time to get its act together to prevent another invasion. It would be tragic if the alliance fails to step up to the plate now, especially given the colossal price Ukraine is paying to defend itself against the Russians. Nato owes it to all those dead Ukrainians and their families to develop a viable counter-strategy to Putin's playbook. Rebekah Koffler is a strategic military intelligence analyst, formerly with the US Defense Intelligence Agency. She is the author of 'Putin's Playbook', Regnery 2021. Her next book 'Trump's Playbook' will be published later this year. Rebekah's podcast Trump's Playbook is running on her channel Censored But Not Silenced and is available on most social media platforms @Rebekah0132.
Reuters
10 hours ago
- Reuters
Zelenskiy introduces bill to 'uphold independence' of Ukraine's anti-graft bodies
KYIV, Ukraine, July 24 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday submitted draft legislation to restore the independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies, reversing course after an outburst of public criticism. Measures enacted earlier this week that established greater control by the prosecutor general, a political appointee, over the anti-corruption bureau NABU and the specialised prosecution unit SAPO had fuelled rare wartime protests and had thrown Kyiv's EU accession bid into question. The agencies said they had been involved in drafting the bill and urged parliament to hold a vote as soon as possible. "The bill, submitted by the president of Ukraine as urgent, restores all procedural powers and guarantees of independence to the NABU and SAPO," they said in a statement. Zelenskiy, whose image as a tireless leader of the three-year-old war against Russia's invasion has been tarnished by the controversy, said the text of the new bill is "well-balanced". He also said that the bill guarantees "reliable protection of the law enforcement system against any Russian influence", in an apparent move to justify the law hurriedly passed on Tuesday. On Monday, security forces arrested two anti-corruption officials on suspicion of ties to Russia and launched sweeping searches of other employees. Critics had decried the move to give a Zelenskiy-appointed prosecutor control over the agencies, saying it looked like political pressure on the agencies. After the law was adopted, Zelenskiy faced a severe backlash, with thousands of people joining protests across the country, even though public gatherings are restricted by martial law. "It is important that we respect the position of all Ukrainians and are grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine," Zelenskiy said. Ukraine's international allies also rushed with vocal criticism. The International Monetary Fund said the law, curbing the agencies' authority, would be "very problematic" for the war-torn country's macroeconomic stability and growth. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz both had calls with Zelenskiy on Thursday, offering their countries' expertise on the new bill. "I invited Germany to join the expert review of the bill. Friedrich assured me of readiness to assist," Zelenskiy said on X. Ruslan Stefanchuk, the chairman of parliament, said it would be considered at the next plenary session, although MPs were meant to start their summer holiday this week. Opposition lawmakers separately registered their own legislation to revoke the restrictive measures, which had been fast-tracked with help from Zelenskiy's ruling party. "They heroically solved the problems that they created just as heroically. Grand imitators," Yaroslav Zhelezniak, from the opposition Holos party, said on Telegram.
