Donald Trump is asked what he needs to see from both Ukraine and Russia when it comes to negotiations. It follows the Kremlin reacting after the US said it could abandon its Ukraine war peace efforts within days unless there’s progress.
Friday 18 April 2025 23:30, UK
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We’ll be back soon with more updates on the war in Ukraine.
Today, Donald Trump said he saw „enthusiasm“ from both Russia and Ukraine when it came to a peace deal.
Asked if he thought the Russians were playing the US, he added: „Nobody is playing me. I’m trying to help.“
The comments came after some alarming rhetoric coming from the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said that the US will walk away from its efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine unless there are clear signs of progress in the coming days.
„We need to figure out here now, within a matter of days, whether this [peace deal] is doable in the short term, because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on,“ he said.
„We’re not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end,“ he added.
Here are the other key lines from today:
The US is prepared to recognise Russian control of the Ukrainian region of Crimea, Bloomberg reports.
Sources have told the American news outlet that Washington is open to such a move as part of a broader peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv.
The people said a final decision on the matter hadn’t yet been taken.
Once the jewel of the Russian Empire, the strategically important territory on the Black Sea has a long history, including holding out against the Nazis in the Second World War and more recently its annexation by Vladimir Putin in 2014.
When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was at first cautious when it came to publicly voicing his ambitions about the coastal territory.
But as the war went on and Ukrainian troops have secured a more and more battlefield victories, he has been clearer: Crimea is Ukraine, and his armed forces will retake it.
We reported earlier that a call had taken place between Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer (see post at 5.32pm).
Now, the White House has issued the following readout from the call…
Today, President Donald J. Trump held a call with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom.
The two leaders discussed bilateral trade, ongoing talks to bring the conflict in Ukraine to a peaceful resolution, and regional security in the Middle East. President Trump shared he looks forward to his upcoming state visit with His Majesty King Charles III in the United Kingdom later this year.
The Kremlin has said that some progress had already been made in talks about a possible peace settlement to end the war in Ukraine but that contacts were rather complicated with the US.
„Contacts are quite complicated, because, naturally, the topic is not an easy one,“ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
„Russia is committed to resolving this conflict, ensuring its own interests, and is open to dialogue. We continue to do this.“
Earlier, Donald Trump said that he wanted to achieve a peace deal quickly, but could not be involved in the search for a settlement indefinitely „if one of the two parties makes it very difficult“.
And US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking earlier in Paris after meeting European and Ukrainian leaders, said the sides had just days to show progress or Washington would abandon its efforts.
Asked if the US could withdraw from the search for a peace settlement in Ukraine, Peskov said that was a question for Washington.
„We believe that some progress can already be noted,“ Peskov said.
Here is what Rubio had to say earlier on Ukraine peace talks…
Today, Donald Trump said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are „coming to a head“ and insisted that neither side is „playing“ him in his push to end the grinding war.
He poke after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned earlier in the day that the US. may „move on“ from trying to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no progress in the coming days, after months of efforts have failed to bring an end to the fighting.
Here, Sky’s James Matthews and David Blevins answer your questions as Trump approaches his 100th day in office.
The acting governor of Russia’s Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, invited a priest to his office to sprinkle holy water after his predecessor Alexei Smirnov was arrested on charges of embezzling funds.
The BBC’s Francis Scarr has shared footage of the priest sprinkling the water here…
So what happened to Smirnov?
The former governor of Russia’s Kursk region, parts of which were seized by Ukrainian forces in August 2024, has been detained and charged with embezzling money earmarked for building defences, according to Russia’s interior ministry.
Alexei Smirnov was head of the western region when Ukrainian troops came across the border.
Since then, a Russian offensive has ejected most of the Ukrainian forces.
Smirnov led the region from May to December 2024, when he was replaced by Alexander Khinshtein.
Smirnov was detained along with his former deputy, Alexei Dedov and a Moscow court placed Smirnov in pre-trial detention for two months.
By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent
For now, Russia won’t be too concerned about Rubio’s threat to pull the US out of peace talks.
That would of course change if the White House was also threatening to walk away from attempts to rebuild diplomatic relations with the Kremlin, but it doesn’t sound like that’s the case.
It appears that Moscow has successfully managed to compartmentalise its rapprochement with Washington – to make it a separate issue from the war.
It’s so that even if the wider peace talks fail, Russia’s bilateral bridges with the Trump administration will continue to strengthen.
Pressure needs to be applied on Russia to agree upon a ceasefire deal, the former UK ambassador to Ukraine has told Sky News.
William B Taylor told Sky’s Kamali Melbourne there was „still an urgency“ from Washington to end the war.
He noted that Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy had agreed on a 30-day ceasefire and the US president had presented that to Putin – but the Russian leader refused it.
And now the pressure was on Russia to „come to the table“.
„That’s been the problem and that’s where the pressure needs to be applied,“ Taylor said.
The former ambassador went on to say it was better to have an agreed ceasefire.
He said the Americans, Ukrainians and Europeans have agreed on a proposal that „apparently the Russians have not agreed on“.
„They [Russia] continue to hold out and so this kind of pressure is going to be necessary to get that overall agreement so that the details can be worked out,“ he added.
US proposals for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine would leave Ukrainian territories now occupied by Russia under Moscow’s control, sources have told Bloomberg.
The officials told the American news outlet that under the proposals Kyiv’s aspirations of joining NATO would also be off the table and sanctions would be eased against Russia.
It was also suggested that Washington wanted to secure a full ceasefire within weeks – with one official saying the plans needed to be further discussed with Kyiv.
Earlier, Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, hinted that the US could abandon Russia-Ukraine peace talks and „move on“ if there was no progress.
He spoke in Paris after landmark talks among US, Ukrainian and European officials produced outlines for steps toward peace and appeared to make some long-awaited progress.
A new meeting is expected next week in London.
Donald Trump is delivering comments at the White House this afternoon.
He is asked what he needs to see from both Ukraine and Russia when it comes to negotiations.
„My whole life has been one big negotiation and I know when people are playing us and when they are not,“ he says.
„I have to see an enthusiasm to want to end it [the war]. I think I see that enthusiasm – I think I see it from both sides.“
Asked if he thought the Russians were playing the US, he adds: „Nobody is playing me. I’m trying to help.“
The US president goes on to say „we have a really good chance“ of getting a deal.
„It’s coming to a head right now,“ he adds.
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Ukraine war latest: Kremlin responds after US threatens to 'move on' from brokering peace – Sky News
