Ukraine war latest: Trump hopes Russia ‘does right thing’ on ceasefire

Ukraine will not agree to a frozen conflict with Russia, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said on Thursday after Kyiv and Washington jointly proposed a 30-day ceasefire in the war.

Speaking on television, Yermak said that Ukraine had agreed with the U.S. that representatives from Europe will definitely take part in the peace process.

Trump answering questions from reporters on the ceasefire said he didn’t think Ukraine and Russia “would go back to shooting”.

He said: “If we get a ceasefire that will lead to peace. I don’t think anyone wants to go back. It’s vicious and violent. We want to get it over with.”

He added negotiations will centre around land and power plants, adding “It’s complicated you are sort of creating an edge of a country”.

He said Putin “put out a very promising statement” in his press conference earlier “but it was incomplete.”

Before this, Trump says a “lot of the details” in the final agreement have been discussed and he is waiting for a response from Moscow.

US President Donald Trump said he did not think Russia would attack US allies.

“It’s not going to happen. We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen,” he said.

His special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to hold direct discussions with Vladimir Putin tonight, Politico reported, citing Russian state-owned news outlet Izvestia.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Thursday the alliance’s members needed to produce more weapons and were lagging behind Russia and China.

Speaking in the Oval Office during a visit with President Donald Trump, Rutte said the alliance was not doing enough on the issue of weapons production.

US president Donald Trump has said he hopes Russia will do the right thing, with his special envoy Steve Witkoff set to hold direct discussions with Vladimir Putin tonight.

“Hopefully they’ll do the right thing,” Mr Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte.

A large power plant will be involved discussions between the US and Russia, US president Donald Trump has said.

It is unclear whether it will feature in scheduled talks between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian president Vladimir Putin tonight.

Kyiv understands it cannot recapture all the territory seized by Russia using military force, a Ukrainian government official said on Thursday.

Recovering Ukrainian territory would have to happen diplomatically over time, the unnamed official told reporters.

The official added that Kyiv would not recognise Moscow’s rights over Ukrainian territory, echoing comments made by president Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.

Here are all the key takeaways from president Vladimir Putin’s press conference on Thursday afternoon.

Putin supports the idea of the 30-day ceasefire, but says there are issues which need addressing first. Any ceasefire must address the “root causes” of the conflict, he said. Russian forces are in “complete control” in the Kursk region, adding that Ukrainian forces have been “fully isolated”. He added: “In the next two days, nobody will be able to leave. There will be only two ways: surrender or die.”Any ceasefire will be dependent on the situation on the ground, he said. “Depending on how the situation on the ground develops, we will agree on the next steps as to a ceasefire and achieving mutually acceptable agreements.”The Russian president thanked Donald Trump for his attention towards a Ukraine settlement – and hinted that a phone call was possible soon. Asked about the prospect of the US lifting sanctions on Russia, Putin said that American companies would be welcomed back into Russia.