Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump envoys fail to secure peace deal after Putin tells Europe he’s ready for war

Emmanuel Macron heads to China today for a three-day state visit focusing on trade and diplomatic talks.

And while the visit will cover wide-reaching issues, the French president is set to try and convince Beijing to pressure Russia into ending its war with Ukraine.

Macron will advocate for an agenda of cooperation in economic and trade matters aimed at achieving a balance that ensures “sustainable, solid growth that benefits everyone,” his office said.

Macron’s talks with president Xi Jinping will include a discussion of Russia’s war in Ukraine, particularly following a meeting on Monday in Paris with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss potential terms for a ceasefire.

“What we want… is that China can convince and influence Russia to move toward a ceasefire as quickly as possible and consolidate that ceasefire through negotiations which, in our view, should lead to solid security guarantees for Ukraine,” a French top diplomatic official said.

An aircraft thought to be carrying US special envoy Steve Witkoff flew out of Moscow in the early hours today after talks at the Kremlin on a settlement of the war in Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported.

The agencies, quoting aviation sources, said a Bombardier jet which had arrived the previous day with Witkoff on board had left the capital’s Vnukovo airport.

Witkoff and US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner held five hours of talks in the Kremlin with Russian President Vladimir Putin. TASS news agency said the plane took off at about 2.02am (2302 GMT).

Russia and the US have failed to agree terms on a peace deal in Ukraine after five hours of talks in Moscow, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

He said peace in Ukraine was “no closer” but also no further away.He noted that the two sides failed to reach a compromise on one of the most difficult issues – territorial disputes.

Ushakov described the discussions as constructive but acknowledged that differences remain over Ukraine.

The comments came after Russian president Vladimir Putin met in the Kremlin with US president Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday he was afraid the United States could lose interest in the Ukrainian peace process and that Russia’s goal was to bring this about.

“Yes, I am afraid. If somebody from our allies is tired, I’m afraid,” Zelensky told an event in Dublin when asked if he was concerned the US could lose interest in the peace process.

“It’s the goal of Russia to withdraw the interest of America from this situation,” he said.

President Vladimir Putin has warned European powers that if they started a war with Russia then Moscow was ready to fight and that the defeat of European powers would be so absolute that there would be no one left to even negotiate a peace deal.

Asked by a reporter about remarks in the Russian media that Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto had cautioned that Europe was preparing a war against Russia, Putin said that Russia did not want a war with Europe.

“If Europe suddenly wants to start a war with us and starts it,” Putin said, then it would end so swiftly for Europe that Russia would have no one left to negotiate with. Putin used the Russian word for “war”.

He also suggested that the war in Ukraine was not a full-blown war and that Russia was acting in a “surgical” manner which would not be repeated in a direct confrontation with European powers.

Ukraine’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that recent comments by Russian president Vladimir Putin show Russia is threatening freedom of navigation in the Black Sea and is not ready to end its war on Ukraine.

“For the second day in a row, Putin makes statements that demonstrate that he does not plan to end the war,” Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.

“Yesterday he said he was prepared to fight through the winter. Today, he threatens sea ports and freedom of navigation.”

Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte brushed off fresh concern Tuesday about the United States’ commitment to the military organization on the eve of a meeting of allied foreign ministers focused on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio was expected to miss Wednesday’s meeting, which will unfold during high-stakes negotiations in Moscow and in Europe about Ukraine’s future.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Mr Rutte underlined that Rubio has a busy schedule.

“He’s working extremely hard to take care not only of the situation of Ukraine, but of course many other issues which are on his plate,” Rutte said. “So I totally accept him not being able to be here tomorrow, and I would not read anything in it.”

A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal administration reasoning for the absence, said Rubio has already attended dozens of meetings with Nato allies, “and it would be completely impractical to expect him at every meeting.

“Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau will attend instead and press the allies to deliver on their commitment to invest 5% of gross domestic product on defense.

A Russian-flagged tanker carrying sunflower oil has reportedly been attacked off the Turkish coast, though its 13 crew members are unharmed, Turkey’s maritime authority confirmed on Tuesday.

The vessel, MIDVOLGA-2, reported the incident 80 miles (130 km) from the Turkish coastline.

It did not request assistance, proceeding instead towards Turkey’s Sinop port, the Maritime Affairs Directorate stated on X. Broadcaster NTV suggested the attack involved a kamikaze drone.

Volodymyr Zelensky is in Dublin, where throughout the day he has been commenting on peace efforts with the US and Russia.

Before talks concluded in the Kremlin, the Ukrainian president said he had some optimism around peace efforts due to the speed of the process and the United States’ interest in finding a solution.

“A little bit optimism was in my words because of some speed of negotiations, and from the American side, their interest in it.

“It showed that America is not withdrawing now from any kind of diplomatic way of dialogue and it is good,” Mr Zelensky told an event during a visit to Dublin.