Ukraine-Russia conflict newest: Trump and Putin to debate ceasefire deal as US says ‘many elements’ already agreed

Russia launched 137 drones across Ukraine in an overnight attack, Kyiv’s air force said on Tuesday.

Ukrainian air defences destroyed 63 of them and another 64 were “locationally lost” without causing damage, the air force added, a reference to drones diverted by electronic jamming.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said Washington is hoping that Russian can agree to “freeze” the conflict with a ceasefire, matching the pledge from Kyiv.

“We got a good commitment from Ukraine last week,” he told “The Guy Benson Show” on Fox News Radio last night.

“They agreed to stop shooting and freeze everything where it is, and we can get to talking about how to end this permanently. And now we got to get something like that from the Russians,” Mr Rubio said.

“We’ll know more tomorrow after the president speaks to Putin. And hopefully we’ll be in a better place,” the US secretary of state said.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha has said Kyiv is hoping to get clarity on peace talks after the scheduled call today between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

“Ukraine is not the obstacle to achieving peace, let’s see what Putin’s response is,” Mr Sybiha said in New Delhi while attending the Raisina Dialogue.

Mr Sybiha said Ukraine is ready to implement outcomes of the Saudi Arabia meeting where the Ukrainian delegation met with the US delegation and agreed on a temporary ceasefire for 30 days.

“We believe with the Trump presidency, Ukraine can achieve a just and lasting peace,” Mr Sybiha said.

He reiterated that Ukrainian sovereignty is non-negotiable. “No third country has the right to block our choice to join any unions or alliances — that remains our principled stance,” he said.

Donald Trump will have a “very productive call” with Vladimir Putin, the US president’s intelligence chief has said.

US director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that while the negotiations to end Russia’s war with Ukraine have just begun, Mr Trump is “looking forward to success”.

“Under the previous administration, during which this war began, there was no effort, there was no effort at all towards peace. There was no effort to have direct dialogue with Putin and with Russia to try to bring about an end to this war. So already in a very short period of time, President Trump has made much more progress towards peace than any effort that has occurred by anyone, previously,” Ms Gabbard said in an interview with India’s NDTV.

“I’m sure that President Trump will have a very productive conversation with Putin, once again, rooted in his unwavering commitment to peace,” she said.

The Kremlin has confirmed that Vladimir Putin will speak on the phone to Donald Trump today. The White House says Ukraine’s president Zelensky will come to Washington on Friday. Peace – or at least a ceasefire – seems very likely soon.

But never forget, the devil is in the details – and a hastily cobbled-together deal could be very fragile. There will be hardliners on either side who don’t want to give peace a chance.

Let’s consider what might be in a deal agreeable to Trump and Putin – and swallowable by Zelensky.

Mark Almond writes:

Days after Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to a 30-day ceasefire deal and left the ball in Russia’s court, Vladimir Putin is set to have his first official phone call with Donald Trump for peace negotiations.

Where does Kyiv stand with its list of requirements from the process?

1. Facing setbacks along the 1,000-kilometres (620-mile) front, Ukraine has backed away from demanding that its state borders be returned to pre-2014 lines, because it does not have the military force capable of reaching that end.
2. Ukraine refuses to cede more territory to Moscow, including in partially occupied regions that Russia claims it has annexed.
3. One of Ukraine’s core demands is the return of children illegally deported to Russia – a suspected war crime that has been brought to the ICC – and thousands of civilians detained in Russian prisons.
4. Ukraine is asking for a peace deal cemented with security guarantees from international allies that will ensure Russia is never able to invade again.
5. In lieu of Nato membership – long-sought by Kyiv but appearing nearly impossible without US backing – what those guarantees might look like is taking shape in parallel talks led by France and Britain. A “coalition of the willing” envisions European boots on the ground and a strong military response if Russia were to launch a new offensive.
6. Mr Zelensky has insisted the Ukrainian army be strengthened to withstand future Russian offensives, a costly endeavour that will require quick and consistent support from international allies.
7. A stockpile of weapons, capable of doing serious damage to Russian assets, is another demand. Kyiv also wants to bolster its domestic arms industry to lessen its reliance on allies, a reality that has set Ukrainian forces back throughout the war.

Donald Trump, who promised as a presidential candidate to end the Ukraine war in 24 hours, faces an important landmark in that effort today as he has a phone call with Vladimir Putin.

“There’s a danger that [Putin] will try to basically create more noise in this conversation with President Trump, pretending to agree on something while at the same time demanding more and more concessions on the Ukrainian side,” said Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based policy research organisation.

“The worst case scenario is that Putin is successful selling some sort of promising lucrative future deal with Russia to Trump,” she said.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Mr Putin of prolonging the war, noting that when the Russian leader speaks to Mr Trump today, he will have been aware of the 30-day ceasefire proposal for a week.

The Ukrainian leader, pushed into agreeing to the US-proposed ceasefire deal after Mr Trump withdrew military and intelligence-sharing support, has warned his allies that Mr Putin does not abide by the agreements he makes.