Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky says draft documents prepared after US talks but Moscow insists no breakthrough

The latest dialogue between Russian and the US officials in Miami on the war in Ukraine should not be seen as a breakthrough, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

Calling it a “working process”, Vladimir Putin’s close aide said the discussions were expected to continue in a “meticulous” expert-level format and that Russia’s priority was to obtain from the United States details of Washington’s work with Europeans and Ukrainians on a possible settlement.

He said Moscow would then judge how far those ideas matched what he called the “spirit of Anchorage”.

Earlier, Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said the talks were “productive and constructive”.

The Ukrainians have responded to the cautiousness of their European allies with a show of fighting spirit. After European leaders signed off a €90bn loan – as we commented yesterday, “just enough” to hold Vladimir Putin’s forces at bay but not enough to push them back – Ukraine has struck an alleged Russian shadow-fleet oil tanker off Libya, 2,000km from the battlefield.

Ukrainian drones also hit a Russian patrol ship and an offshore drilling platform in the Caspian Sea, hundreds of kilometres away.

This intensification of the long-distance battle that Ukraine is fighting in support of the ground war of attrition on its own territory is a fitting response, both to the hesitation of its allies and to the four-hour monologue of obfuscation delivered by Mr Putin on Friday.

Read The Independent’s view:

Italian prosecutors investigating suspected Russian drone flights over an EU space research centre have concluded their suspicions were unfounded and have requested the case be dropped, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Milan prosecutors found that 21 alleged overflights between March and May 2025 were actually caused by interference from a private GSM phone signal booster near the European Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, near Italy’s Lake Maggiore.

Pope Leo said on Tuesday that he feels “much sadness” that Russia has not agree to a Christmas ceasefire in its nearly four-year old war with Ukraine.

“Among the things that cause me much sadness is that apparently Russia has refused a ceasefire request,” the pope told journalists outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy.

“I will make an appeal one more time to people of good will to respect at least Christmas day as a day of peace,” said Leo.

“Maybe they will listen to us and there will be at least 24 hours, a day of peace, across the world.”

Ukrainian forces have pulled out of the embattled eastern town of Siversk, Kyiv’s military said on Tuesday, as Russian troops wage a battlefield offensive aimed at threatening key cities critical to Ukraine’s defences in the east.

The fall of Siversk comes with Ukraine under US pressure to quickly negotiate peace in the nearly four-year-old war triggered by Russia’s invasion, and puts Russian forces closer to the hub of Sloviansk, some 30 km (20 miles) to the west.

Sloviansk is a northern anchor of the so-called “fortress belt” of cities

in Ukraine’s heavily industrialised Donbas region, which Russia has demanded Kyiv cede before it ends its war.

“The invaders were able to advance due to a significant numerical advantage and constant pressure from small assault groups in difficult weather conditions,” Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement.

A 76-year-old woman has been killed in Russia’s large-scale attack on Kyiv, according to the region’s military administration.

Three people were also injured, including a 16-year-old girl, military administration chief Mykola Kalashnyk said.

The attack caused a fire to break out in a two-storey house in the Vyshhorod district.

Two houses were also damaged in the Obukhiv district, where windows were blown out and roofs damaged, authorities added.

Initial drafts of US proposals for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia meet many of Kyiv’s demands, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

But he suggested that neither side in the almost four-year war is likely to get everything it wants in talks on reaching a settlement.

“Overall, it looks quite solid at this stage,” the Ukrainian leader said of recent talks with US officials who are trying to steer the neighbouring countries toward compromises.

“There are some things we are probably not ready for, and I’m sure there are things the Russians are not ready for either,” Mr Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv.