Ukraine-Russia war latest: US to lead talks in Saudi Arabia as Trump warns Ukraine ‘may not survive’

Russia claims it has recaptured three more settlements in Kursk

Russian forces recaptured three more settlements in Russia’s western Kursk region, the defence ministry said, part of an operation to evict Ukrainian troops holding chunks of territory seven months after a cross-border incursion.

The ministry statement, posted on the Telegram app, followed reports by Russian bloggers that Russian special forces had crept for miles through a gas pipeline near the town of Sudzha in an attempt to surprise Ukrainian forces.

The three settlements now under Russian control according to the ministry – Malaya Lokhnya, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye and Kositsa — all lie north of Sudzha.

“The Russian Federation’s armed forces are continuing to rout groups of the Ukrainian army on the territory of Kursk region,” the statement said.

Ukraine has not confirmed the loss of territory in its daily update.

A statement from Ukraine’s airborne assault forces said that Russian soldiers had used the pipeline in an attempt to gain a foothold, but the Russians were promptly detected and attacked with rockets, artillery and drones.

The Ukrainian military’s General Staff in a late afternoon report said its forces repelled 15 Russian attacks in Kursk region, with six armed clashes still ongoing. It also reported 12 Russian air strikes on their positions.

One issue to be addressed in Jeddah is the fate of a minerals deal between the US and Ukraine, with Kyiv wanting to include a US security guarantee in exchange for access to certain mineral resources in Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump had been slated to sign that accord during Mr Zelensky’s Washington visit. But after the White House blowup between the two men, it was not signed.

Since then, both sides have expressed a renewed willingness to sign the deal, but no signing has yet occurred. Mr Trump yesterday said he thought Ukraine would sign it, with a caveat that he wanted Mr Zelensky’s government to show that it wanted peace.

“They will sign the minerals deal but I want them to want peace… They haven’t shown it to extent they should,” he said.

A delegation of Ukrainian and American officials are meeting in Saudi Arabia today to discuss how to bring an end to the war with Russia.

American officials will use the talks to decide whether Kyiv is interested in a “realistic” peace deal, one of them told Reuters, as well as repairing the damage to relations with the US after Donald Trump’s Oval Office clash with Volodymyr Zelensky.

The US will be represented by secretary of state Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.

“You can’t say ‘I want peace,’ and, ‘I refuse to compromise on anything,'” one of the US officials said of the upcoming talks.

“We want to see if the Ukrainians are interested not just in peace, but in a realistic peace,” said the other official. “If they are only interested in 2014 or 2022 borders, that tells you something.”

The Ukrainian officials will be led by Andriy Yermak, Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff.

In his nightly video address yesterday, Mr Zelensky said will travel to Saudi Arabia today to “continue to work for the sake of peace”.

Elon Musk says the “entire frontline” in Ukraine would collapse if he chose to turn off his Starlink internet system.

Starlink terminals have played a vital role in securing communications in the war in Ukraine, with most battlefield positions equipped with their own terminal.

Last year, Ukraine said around 42,000 terminals were in operation across the military, hospitals, businesses and aid organisations.

Posting on X, Musk said Starlink was the “backbone of the Ukrainian army” and the “entire front line would collapse if I turned it off”.

He said he was “sickened by… years of slaughter in a stalemate that Ukraine will inevitably lose”.

Donald Trump has declined to criticise Vladimir Putin for continuing to attack Ukraine at the time when his administration is trying to broker a peace deal.

On being asked by a Washington Post reporter if he felt Mr Putin was “disrespecting” him by attacking Ukraine while he was trying to make a peace deal, Mr Trump said: “What did he do? Is he disrespecting me? Who are you with.”

“You’ve lost a lot of credibility,” he then told the reporter with the leading daily.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski of “making things up” and suggested on Sunday he was ungrateful.

Poland pays for Kyiv to use the services of Elon Musk’s Starlink, which provides crucial internet connectivity to Ukraine and its military.

Musk, a high-profile figure in the administration of US President Donald Trump, said in a post on his X social media platform on Sunday that Ukraine’s “entire front line would collapse if I turned it (Starlink) off”.

He said he was “sickened by years of slaughter in a stalemate that Ukraine will inevitably lose”.

The US government has already revoked some access to satellite imagery for Ukraine and paused intelligence sharing, piling pressure on Kyiv as Trump seeks a swift end to the war, now in its fourth year after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

US negotiators pressing Kyiv for access to Ukraine’s critical minerals have raised the possibility of cutting the country’s access to the service, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in February.

“Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year,” Sikorski wrote on X later on Sunday.

“The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers.”

Rubio hit back at Sikorski, saying in a post on X that he was “making things up” and that “No-one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink”.

“And say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now,” Rubio added.

Musk later said he would “never” cut Starlink off despite disagreeing with Ukraine.

The United States has “just about” ended the suspension of intelligence sharing with Ukraine, president Donald Trump says.

Asked if he would consider ending the suspension, Mr Trump said: “We just about have. We just about have.”

On Wednesday last week, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said that the US had halted intelligence sharing with Ukraine, piling pressure on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to cooperate with Mr Trump in convening peace talks with Russia.

Britain and other European nations must be ready to take over Nato if Donald Trump carries out US threats to withdraw from the organisation.

They must replace American military aid to Ukraine scrapped by Mr Trump and make sure Russian leader Vladimir Putin does not win the conflict.

That was the powerful message delivered on Saturday by former Conservative defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace.

“We are witnessing a new era where we cannot take for granted US security guarantees,” said Sir Ben.

On the ground, Ukrainians are acutely aware of the repercussions of Donald Trump’s hardline decision to cut aid and access to military intelligence in the wake of his fateful White House row with Volodymyr Zelensky.

During the last day of fighting alone, Russian commandos have reportedly spearheaded an assault using an abandoned oil pipeline to sneak behind Ukrainian forces occupying part of Russia’s Kursk region.

Elite airborne and marine units backed by North Korean soldiers also launched full-frontal assaults on the Ukrainians under a barrage of artillery, drones and air attacks.

Read the full story by The Independent’s World Affairs Editor Sam Kiley here: