Donald Trump has spoken about talks in the Saudi city of Riyadh today as efforts to end the Ukraine war continue. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also given a revealing interview. Follow the latest, submit a question for defence analyst Michael Clarke and listen to The World podcast below.
Monday 24 March 2025 21:48, UK
Live reporting by Brad Young
Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke returns for his weekly Q&A on the Ukraine war tomorrow afternoon – covering anything from the battlefield to the negotiating table.
He’ll tackle as many of your questions as he can – submit yours in the box above to join in.
Donald Trump told reporters earlier this month that he has already spoken to both sides about „dividing up certain assets“.
But what have Ukraine and Russia said about territory, and what key infrastructure could be involved in a ceasefire deal?
Read on here…
A Russian governor says Ukrainian artillery killed six people in occupied Luhansk, including a 14-year-old boy.
Leonid Pasechnik said two journalists working for the Russian defence ministry-run channel, Zvezda, were also among the dead.
The attack killed a journalist working for the Izvestia media outlet, Pasachnik added.
Sky News cannot independently verify these claims.
Nearly all of the Luhansk region has been captured by Russian forces.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made remarks following the meeting of US representatives and what he branded Russia’s „war team“ in Saudi Arabia.
„Today, representatives of the United States of America spoke with the war team – with representatives of Russia.
„After that, another meeting of the Ukrainian and American teams,“ he said.
„We need a movement towards real peace, towards guaranteed security.
„And we all need this: in Ukraine, in Europe, in America, everyone in the world who wants peace in international relations.
„Russia is the only entity that is dragging out this war and mocking our people and the whole world. And to pressure Russia towards peace, strong things, strong steps are needed.“
US and Russian officials have wrapped up day-long talks in Saudi Arabia focused on a proposal for a ceasefire at sea between Kyiv and Moscow.
There was no immediate word on whether an agreement had been hammered out or progress made.
A Russian source told Reuters a draft joint statement has been sent to Moscow and Washington for approval, with the parties aiming to release it tomorrow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that no documents would be signed, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
Even as the meeting was underway, a Russian missile strike damaged a school and a hospital in Sumy, wounding at least 88 people, according to the local council.
„Moscow speaks of peace while carrying out brutal strikes on densely populated residential areas in major Ukrainian cities,“ Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.
„Instead of making hollow statements about peace, Russia must stop bombing our cities and end its war on civilians.“
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has revealed he sleeps under paintings that include a depiction of the Kremlin burning.
Time magazine visited the president and found three oil paintings above a single bed.
One shows a Russian warship sinking into the Black Sea, while another shows Ukrainian troops fighting recently on Russian territory.
The third, described as „Zelenskyy’s favourite“, shows the Kremlin engulfed in flames.
„Each one’s about victory,“ he said of the paintings.
„That’s where I live.“
While talks go on in Saudi Arabia, Ukrainian soldiers continue to fight on the frontline.
Photographs show servicemen of the 39th Separate Coastal Defence Brigade firing a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops in Kherson yesterday.
Ukraine’s main intelligence agency claims Russia is recruiting unwitting Ukrainian teenagers to carry out terrorist attacks.
Russian intelligence agencies are promising children easy money on social media for delivering packages, which are remotely detonated, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.
The SBU said the Russian Federal Security Service used a 15-year-old boy as an „assassin“ in Kharkiv and killed a teenager in Ivano-Frankivsk, western Ukraine.
Sky News cannot independently verify these claims.
„The Security Service of Ukraine daily opposes attempts of Russian intelligence agencies to recruit underage Ukrainians and use them as a ‚tool‘ for terrorist attacks,“ the SBU said.
„Now Russia is conducting a targeted hunt for children in social networks.“
Last week,Lithuanian prosecutors blamed Russia’s military intelligence service foran arson attack carried out at an Ikea store in Vilnius in 2024.
Two Ukrainian suspects were arrested.
If you were following our coverage a little earlier today, you’ll know Vladimir Putin gifted Donald Trump a portrait of the US president himself.
As it happens, Volodymyr Zelenskyy had brought Trump a glitzier present before the ill-fated Oval Office showdown on 9 March: the world championship belt of heavyweight boxer Oleksandr Usyk.
The plan was to hand the belt to Trump from the table on Zelenskyy’s right during the news conference, but instead the Ukrainian leader showed him photos of the bodies of prisoners of war, Time reported.
The magazine cited US officials as saying that moment marked the point at which the meeting went wrong, but Zelenskyy said he was appealing beyond flattery to Trump as a human being.
„I don’t know,“ Zelenskyy said after being asked what happened to the belt.
„Maybe it’s still sitting there.“
Time reported a member of the White House staff took it to Trump’s private dining room, where he keeps souvenirs.
US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia are coming to a close, Russian state media reports.
RIA Novosti cites an unnamed source as saying the delegations are agreeing on the wording of a joint statement.
„We are completing negotiations,“ said Grigory Karasin, a member of the Russian delegation.
A ceasefire agreement in the Black Sea to restart commercial shipping has been at the heart of discussions, though Donald Trump said territory and the ownership of Ukraine’s power plants has also come up.
Earlier we featured reports that Russia was striking a residential area in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine.
Sumy City Council has now said at least 88 people were wounded including 17 children, reports Interfax-Ukraine.
Mayor Artem Kobzar earlier said the attacks targeted „children’s institutions“ and a hospital.
Sky News cannot independently verify these battlefield reports.
Pictures from Reuters photographers on the ground show wounded people being tended to as firefighters attempt to put out a blaze in an apartment building.
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Ukraine war latest: Trump says 'we're talking about territory' in ceasefire meeting update – as Zelenskyy speaks out on White House row – Sky News
