A Russian general has been killed in a car bomb in Moscow. Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s peace negotiator has held talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. Listen to the latest Trump 100 podcast as you scroll.
Friday 25 April 2025 21:15, UK
We’re pausing our live coverage of the war in Ukraine for now. Thank you for following along.
We’ll be back tomorrow with more updates. Before we go, here’s a summary of the day’s key developments:
The Kremlin has blamed Ukraine for a car bomb attack that killed a Russian general near Moscow. Kyiv has yet to comment on the explosion. You can watch the aftermath here:
Peace talks between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff took place today, with the Kremlin saying they brought the two sides „closer together“ on „a number of international issues“.
Donald Trump claimed the talks were „going smoothly“ in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Our Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett offers his analysis of the meeting between Putin and Witkoff here:
Elsewhere, the US president said his claim he could end the war on his first day back in the Oval Office was „said in jest“ during an interview with TIME magazine. He also said „Crimea will stay with Russia“ in the interview, claiming „Zelenskyy understands that“.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a warning over the „lack of significant pressure“ on Russia after it attacked Kyiv, killing 12 people and leaving 90 injured.
It came as Boris Johnson, the former prime minister and an outspoken supporter of Ukraine, apparently criticised Trump’s ideas to bring an end to the war, saying Ukraine „gets nothing“ in the deal the US president is proposing.
And the United Nations‘ refugee agency said it has been forced to reduce support for displaced people in Ukraine as frontline attacks intensify as a result of Trump’s freeze on foreign aid.
Civilians „continue to bear the brunt“ of the war between Russia and Ukraine and both sides must avoid harming noncombatants, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has urged.
„Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the fighting in the Russia-Ukraine international armed conflict,“ said Ariane Bauer, ICRC regional director for Europe and Central Asia.
She said „international humanitarian law (IHL) protects civilians and anyone who does not take part in hostilities“, but „we continue to see them paying the price in this conflict“
“The rules of IHL are not optional,“ she added.
„Respect for it cannot be turned off temporarily, or delayed until tomorrow. If the rules guiding the conduct of hostilities are not respected, civilians will face even more devastating suffering and a political solution to stop the fighting will be harder to achieve.“
She added: „The continued violence has led to further death and destruction, with more lives shattered and families torn apart. The prospect of peace remains elusive for civilians who continue to face the horrors of conflict.“
Work on a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine „is going smoothly,“ Donald Trump has claimed.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president said Ukraine had not yet signed a deal on rare earth minerals with the US and he hoped it would be signed immediately.
„Ukraine, headed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has not signed the final papers on the very important Rare Earths Deal with the United States,“ he said.
„It is at least three weeks late. Hopefully, it will be signed IMMEDIATELY.“
He added: „Work on the overall Peace Deal between Russia and Ukraine is going smoothly.“
It comes after Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in Moscow, with the Kremlin saying the talks have brought Russia and the US „closer together“ on „a number of international issues“ (see 16.05 post).
In other geopolitical developments, a nuclear deal may be in the works for Iran.
The US is at the centre of those talks – and could have ripple effects on Ukraine.
Richard Engel reports exclusively from Tehran and discusses the deal’s chances with Yalda Hakim.
They also analyse Donald Trump’s broader foreign policy as he approaches the 100th day of his second term in office.
To get in touch or to share questions for Richard and Yalda, email theworld@sky.uk
Click here to visit their YouTube channel where you can watch all the episodes.
Episodes of The World With Richard Engel And Yalda Hakim will be available every Wednesday on all podcast platforms.
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Vladimir Putin still believes he can „subjugate“ Ukraine „to control it or to wreck it“, as he engages in talks with Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, an expert has said.
Both Russia and the US want to normalise relations and resume trade, and both „view Ukraine and its president as the problem“, James Nixey, director of the Russia and Eurasia programme at Chatham House, told Sky News.
„It’s a betrayal,“ he said.
We’ve been bringing you updates on the talks between the Russian president and Witkoff throughout the day, and Nixey said Trump’s envoy is „massively outclassed by the Russian side in terms of experience and knowledge“.
„But this doesn’t matter if your aim is not to win favourable terms for the Ukrainians,“ he added.
However, one significant barrier to the normalisation of relations between Washington and Moscow is Europe, he said. „It’s hard to imagine the Europeans simply capitulating to Trump’s vision and abandoning Ukraine too,“ he added.
Nixey said the continuing fighting on the frontline and today’s car bomb attack, which killed a Russian general near Moscow and has been blamed on Ukraine, „show that Ukraine is still a player, still in this fight, and that a deal can’t be done over the heads of Ukrainians.“
„It’s also a reminder of what life will be like in Moscow after the war if Kyiv is, finally, pressed into an unfair bargain,“ he added.
„The Russian aim is to subjugate Ukraine: to control it or to wreck it.
„With US support as an unexpected bonus, Putin believes he can achieve this. Nothing has happened yet that has changed his calculus.“
The United Nations‘ refugee agency has said it has been forced to reduce support for newly displaced people in Ukraine as frontline attacks intensify as a result of Donald Trump’s freeze on foreign aid.
„Some of the programmes that we previously used to implement with the generous support of US funding are on hold,“ said Karolina Lindholm Billing, the UNHCR representative in Ukraine.
The agency said such programmes include psycho-social support, which is needed on a huge scale in Ukraine, as well as emergency shelter material and cash assistance.
It said the loss of US aid, which last year accounted for 40% of UNHCR funding, has had the most impact, but other Western donors have also retreated as they focus instead on defence spending.
The agency said its appeal for $3.32bn (£2.49bn) to support 8.2 million people in Ukraine had only been funded by 25%.
Almost 9,000 people fleeing heavy shelling in Ukraine have passed through the UNHCR’s transit centres in Pavlohrad and Sumy since January, and Ms Billing said they arrived with „little or no belongings and deeply traumatised“.
The agency said more than 200,000 people have been evacuated or displaced from frontline areas between last August and March.
We’ve been speaking to a representative of the UN’s children’s agency at the site of the massive attack that took place in Kyiv earlier this week.
The local community is „in shock“ after three children were killed and at least six others injured in the attack, Toby Fricker, chief of communications at UNICEF Ukraine, told Sky News.
„It has had a devastating impact not only on this community, but on children across the country. We’ve seen attacks over the last couple of weeks really hitting children in places across the country.“
He said some local teenagers were waiting yesterday for 12 hours to hope their friend from school would be pulled out alive, but unfortunately he was found among the dead.
„What children need is a real and lasting peace,“ he said.
„They’ve lived through three years of war. Those who have been directly impacted – children who have survived this horror here – have now got to recover. And that journey is long, that mental health support that they need, recovering from the physical scars, that work goes on.“
Russia is investigating what it calls the murder of one of its senior military officers – see our post at 11.06.
General Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a car bomb explosion in Moscow earlier today, and the video below shows the immediate aftermath.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has declared „there are reasons to believe that Ukrainian special services were involved in the killing“.
Diplomacy may have taken centre stage over the past day – with Donald Trump’s urge for Vladimir Putin to „STOP“ and his envoy’s visit to Moscow – but fighting continues on the battlefield.
These are some of the latest pictures from along the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region.
We’ve been bringing you excerpts from Donald Trump’s interview with TIME magazine which was published earlier today.
But the US president was also asked about his claim he could end the war on his first day back in the Oval Office, something he said during the election campaign.
„Well, I said that figuratively, and I said that as an exaggeration… to make a point,“ he said.
„Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended.“
It comes on the week that the White House warned Trump is „frustrated“ with negotiations to end the war, and his patience is „running very thin“.
He’s also made separate pleas to Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin in the past two days to end the war after warning he could „take a pass“ on brokering peace if either side „make it very difficult“.
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Ukraine war latest: Russian general killed in Moscow car bomb; Kremlin reveals details of Putin-Witkoff meeting – Sky News
