CloseThe US will send a representative to participate in talks with Europe on Ukraine this weekend, Donald Trump has said, but warned he doesn't want to waste “a lot of time”.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said: "We'll be attending the meeting on Saturday in Europe if we think there's a good chance. And we don't want to waste a lot of time if we think it's negative."
Earlier on Thursday, the US president said he is “sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting” as he grows “frustrated” with both Ukraine and Russia.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said ceding territory remained a major sticking point in negotiations and the US had offered to create a "free economic zone" in the Ukraine-controlled parts of the eastern Donbas which Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede.
"They see it as Ukrainian troops withdrawing from the Donetsk region, and the compromise is supposedly that Russian troops will not enter this part of Donetsk region. They do not know who will govern this territory," he said, adding that Russia is referring to it as a "demilitarised zone".
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Russia urges UK to reveal what British soldier killed in Ukraine was doing
Moscow has urged the UK to disclose what a British soldier killed in Ukraine was doing there, accusing London of helping Kyiv carry out "acts of terrorism".
The UK Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that the soldier, Lance Corporal George Hooley, died in Ukraine while observing Ukrainian forces test a new defensive capability away from the frontline.
Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the British government should not deceive its citizens by claiming that British soldiers sent to Ukraine were only advisers or instructors.
She accused British forces of helping Kyiv "carry out terrorist attacks and extremist tasks" on London's direct orders.
Zakharova did not set out evidence to back up her accusations of alleged wider UK involvement.
Alex Croft12 December 2025 02:00
Europe must integrate more deeply during Trump era, says Polish minister
Europe must integrate more deeply and strengthen itself militarily during the Trump administration, Polish justice minister Waldemar Zurek said on Thursday.
Mr Zurek’s government, led by prime minister Donald Tusk, is at loggerheads over a number of domestic issues with president Karol Nawrocki, a nationalist endorsed by Trump.
They also differ on matters of security, with Tusk advocating a stronger role for the European Union in defence, in contrast to Nawrocki who says this would undermine the crucial role of the United States on Nato's eastern flank.
A U.S. strategy document published last week said Washington should focus on "cultivating resistance to Europe's current trajectory within European nations" while also saying Europe should take primary responsibility for its own defence.
Alex Croft12 December 2025 01:01
Hungary's Orban says Trump strategy grasps Europe's 'civilisation-scale decline'
The Trump's administration’s new National Security Strategy shows that America understands Europe's "civilisational-scale decline", Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban wrote on X on Thursday.
In the document, Trump called on the United States to reassess its relationship with Europe, a continent which faces "civilizational erasure" and must change course.
The document caused shock across Europe, but Orban, a long-time Trump ally, called it "the most important and most interesting document of recent years".
He said it showed Washington had grasped that Europe reached an "economic dead end" and that its values, democracy and free market were all in danger.
Orban also said the US administration understood that Europe needed to rebuild its relationship with Russia "at a strategic level".
"America has a precise understanding of Europe’s decline. They see the civilisational-scale decline that we in Hungary have been fighting against for fifteen years. At last, we are not fighting against it alone," he said.
Alex Croft12 December 2025 00:00
Europe-US talks expected this weekend, says Merz
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said he expects talks with US officials to take place this weekend, discussing a proposal put forward by the European side for peace in Ukraine.
In a call on Wednesday, "we made a proposal to [Donald Trump] that we would finalise the documents together with the American government over the weekend," Mr Merz said.
"If we now proceed with this process as we envisage, there will be talks with the American government over the weekend," he added at a press conference with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.
Alex Croft11 December 2025 23:02
Watch: Zelensky says he discussed with Ukrainian parliament ways of holding election
Alex Croft11 December 2025 22:02
Russia open to foreign investment, says Kremlin
Russia is open to foreign investment, the Kremlin said on Thursday, following reports that Donald Trumps’ Ukraine peace plan included major proposals to invest in Russia rare earths and energy.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the plans were detailed in appendices to peace proposals handed to European counterparts over recent weeks.
They include a plan to restore Russian energy flows to Europe and for U.S. financial firms and other businesses to tap $200 billion of frozen Russian sovereign assets for projects in Ukraine, the paper said.
Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, was interested in foreign investment. When asked about the US frozen asset proposals reported by the Journal, Peskov declined comment.
Alex Croft11 December 2025 21:00
Coalition of the Willing leaders meet to discuss progress on mobilising frozen Russian sovereign assets
Leaders of the 'Coalition of the Willing' group of nations discussed progress on mobilising frozen Russian sovereign assets during a virtual meeting on Thursday, British prime minister Keir Starmer's office said.
The call came a day after Britain, France and Germany spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump about Washington's latest push for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Kyiv has pushed back against a US backed plan proposed last month that would require major concessions to Moscow, while European powers are working on security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a potential accord.
The leaders agreed on Thursday that the U.S.-led peace plan was a "pivotal moment" for Ukraine.
Bryony Gooch11 December 2025 20:30
Russian forces seize village in Kkharkiv region, Moscow claims
Russian forces took control of the village of Lyman in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region, state news agencies cited the Defence Ministry as saying on Thursday.
The Independent could not independently verify the battlefield reports.
Moscow’s forces have continued advancing forwards on the Ukrainian frontline, as US mediators work to hash out a deal between the two countries.
Alex Croft11 December 2025 20:01
Elections in Ukraine would require ceasefire, says Zelensky
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that holding elections in Ukraine during wartime would require a ceasefire.
"There must be a ceasefire – at least or the duration of the election process and voting. This is what needs to be discussed. Frankly speaking, here in Ukraine, we believe that America should talk to the Russian side about this," he told a meeting of the 'Coalition of the Willing' group of nations.
Wartime elections are forbidden by law but Zelensky, whose term expired last year, is facing renewed pressure from president Donald Trump to hold a vote.
Bryony Gooch11 December 2025 19:30
Ukraine drones hit Russian oil rig for first time – SBU
Ukrainian drones hit a Russian oil rig in the Caspian sea for the first time, a source in Ukraine’s SBU security service said according to Reuters.
The drones struck the Filanovsky oil rig, which belongs to Russian oil major Lukoil. At least four strikes were recorded on the target.
The strikes halted the facility's extraction of oil and gas, the source said.
Lukoil did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
