Ukraine-Russia war latest: US boasts of ‘leverage’ over Kremlin as White House envoy meets Putin for peace talks

US president Donald Trump has urged the Russian president to “get moving” on a ceasefire in Ukraine as Vladimir Putin met White House envoy Steve Witkoff in Russia.

The focus of the meeting, which lasted over four hours, was “aspects of Ukrainian settlement”, the Kremlin said.

The Izvestia news outlet earlier released video of Mr Witkoff leaving a hotel in St Petersburg, accompanied by Kirill Dmitriev, Mr Putin’s investment envoy.

Mr Dmitriev called the talks on Friday “productive”.Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social: “Russia has to get moving. Too many people (are) DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war – A war that should have never happened, and wouldn’t have happened, if I were President!!!”

The Russian leader has said he is ready in principle to agree to a full ceasefire, while emphasizing that crucial implementation details remain unresolved and what he describes as the war’s root causes have yet to be addressed.

Over 100 Chinese citizens fighting for the Russian military against Ukraine are mercenaries who do not appear to have a direct link to China’s government, officials said.

Chinese military officers have, however, been in the theatre behind Russia’s lines with Beijing’s approval to draw tactical lessons from the war, a former Western intelligence official told Reuters.

The head of US forces in the Indo-Pacific, Admiral Samuel Paparo, confirmed on 9 April that Ukrainian forces had captured two men of Chinese origin in eastern Ukraine after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said his country had information about 155 Chinese citizens fighting there on Russia’s behalf.

China, which has declared a “no-limits” partnership with Russia and has refrained from criticising Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, had called Mr Zelensky’s remarks “irresponsible” and said China was not a party to the war.

Two US officials told the news agency that Chinese fighters appear to have minimal training and are not having any discernable impact on Russia’s military operations.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said air defence units had destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones within 30 minutes.

A ministry statement said that between 10pm and 10.30pm, nine drones were destroyed in the Rostov region on Ukraine’s eastern border and four in the Kursk region, on Ukraine’s north border.

Russian investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev described as “productive” talks between Russian president Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff.

“Welcome to Saint Petersburg, Russia!” Dmitriev, who attended the talks, wrote on X in English. “Productive discussions with @SteveWitkoff.”

Mr Putin was shown on state TV greeting Witkoff in St Petersburg’s presidential library at the start of the negotiations and state news agencies later said the talks lasted more than four hours.

“The theme of the meeting is aspects of a Ukrainian settlement,” the Kremlin said in a statement after the meeting concluded.

Mr Witkoff has emerged as a key figure in the on-off rapprochement between Moscow and Washington amid talk on the Russian side of potential joint investments in the Arctic and in Russian rare earth minerals.